I grew up knowing spanking and getting yelled at as a punishment. The type where you'd play outside, get your knees skinned from falling down rollerblading, and then go home to get spanked for getting yourself injured (and rollerblading to begin with). It was a confusing time. My parents married just barely out of their teen years so I guess they didn't weren't the most patient people in the world. So I'd sneak about and try not to show whatever misbehavior I was doing. Needless to say, I'm a little on the messed up side now. And though they eventually learned to explain things, I guess it didn't help that the tone was still enough to make someone's ear bleed. Or that they do it in front of other people. Or they don't listen to my side "We're the parents, you're the kid". On a side note, adults forget that even when children are young, they do understand to a degree. Taking the time to explain what they did wrong in terms they'd understand could actually make a difference in how they act/cope as adults.