Hrmmmm...while I wouldn't do it to my kid, it was a valuable lesson. The child wasn't beaten, abused or knocked around. He was an older kid (old enough to know the "c word" is pretty powerful and offensive) so I imagine this was a calculated lesson on dad's part. No one got hurt but dad. This didn't, I assume, scar OP for life though it likely made him think through some shit real hard. Let me tell you about some child abuse though, ok? Let me tell you about being punched square in the face as a 13 year old girl. Let me tell you about being violently pushed into a tub full of icy bathwater because one of your siblings didn't drain it after a bath and because you're the oldest, that's your fault. Or being an 8 year old held upside down by your feet with your head in a toilet so that you can properly clean the inside with your tongue since scrubbing is insufficient. Or maybe having to drink out of the cat bowl because your sister never washed the bowl when it was her turn to feed the cats (she was 5 and was just expected to know that you need to clean the cat bowl....even though no one ever actually cleaned in the house)....I can tell you about going to school with split and swollen lips and black eyes. This doesn't even go into the molestation and etc that took place. So yeah, I know a little bit about it.