Target Abuse

This post has nothing to do with Gay's, just something I witnessed. 

Since I got finished with class early and my roommate was out of the apartment, I decided to go shopping. The only stores near me are Publix and Target. I decided to go to the latter. Target or in other words, a middle class Walmart, or in other other words a store I cannot afford.

As I drifted through the aisles of over priced merchandise, $23 for two pairs of silk pillowcases, I ran into a small child. He looked up at me, like I was some sort of giant. In his hand he held a dog toy, a rubber duck. 

The child's mother, wearing her mom jeans and purple sneakers ran up to us. She grabbed him by the arm, apologized to me, and said "Don't you ever run away like that again. Don't make me spank you." 

Is spanking still around? Do parents still punish their children by hitting them? 

My parents never hit my sister or I. They placed me in my room for "time out" but I still had my toys. I would imagine parents in this day and age, would think of countless more things to do to punish a child. 

You see kids,young kids, walking around the mall, with their cellphones and their snapbacks talking about this game and that game. 

Why not take away electronics-cell phones, consoles? Why resort to hitting a child for bad behavior? 

Back when I was a kid I wasn't allowed out of the house till tenth grade. Even then, I had to call my mom every twenty minutes. 

When do we cross that line separating abuse from discipline? Who draws that line?