Should children be spanked or not?

Well I came across an interesting article in Time Magazine. The article discusses about whether children should be spanked by their parents or not. This is a hot button issue in U.S as most of parents do not spank their kids. But in contrary its a common sight to see parents (and relatives) spanking kids in India. I have thought about this many times, I am always pro to no spanking. But after reading this article I feel that it's not really bad to spank the kids once or twice if the kid did something which he/she is not supposed to do.
A strict no spanking will make the parent loose control over the kid and it will be difficult for the parent to bring up the kid disciplined. But spanking should not be over used. Parents should also be careful on how they behave in front of the children because the children learn from the parents (afterall parents are the first role models for the children). If the parents keep shouting around the house to get work done then the kids will also try doing it if they want something.
People in US follow a interesting way to punish the kids for their wrong deed. Its called 'Time out'. If the kid misbehaves, then the kid is made to stand in a corner or in a room for some definite time. After the time out is over everything is normal, the parents then reasons to the kid about what mistake he/she did and why he/she was punished. This makes the kid realise their mistake and won't repeat it again.
Well I should say that I was lucky to have parents who seldom spanked me. But I still remember the day when my dad spanked me real hard for some mistake that I did'nt do. I think that's the only time I got spanked by my dad.

Varta...