Though that doesn't address the issue of fear though, granted the reasoning helps.

However, with my aunt and uncle I knew my punishment would never be painful, so I was more inclined to open up to them because the worst it would get is spending hours doing something that I didn't enjoy. Whereas with my parents, I knew I would get hurt and in my mind it was, "Hell no, fuck that".

I don't know, I'm a firm believer of the fact that you never have to hit your children in order to stop them from growing up to being assholes. There's a way around everything, there's a way to teach them and tap into their minds, work out what makes them tick, but hitting them just seems to be the easiest option for most and in most cases that doesn't always pan out.

I dated a girl that was never once hit by her parents and she was the most decent human being I'd ever met, and her parents were amazing people, they helped out anyone in need, they weren't afraid to step out of their comfort zone to deal with a situation, they listened to her when she had problems, they were completely open with each other. She was able to talk to them about anything and it was crazy to see.

They set an example for her and she followed suit.

I can't believe that there's ever a need to hit a child, I mean look at them, they're so so tiny, they have this 5 - 6ft giant come into the room, bend them over and inflict a lot of pain on them. That shit must be terrifying! And sometimes they comfort you after hitting you!? Man, that must be such a mind fuck.

No wonder some kids grow up insecure, feeling weak and helpless, so they take it out on others to feel like they have some sort of "power".

But regardless, at the end of the day this whole thing is subjective and rather relative to how people were raised themselves and what worked on them.

It's just my personal opinion, nothing more.