[Mi Beardo es Loco]

it's not the beating that makes the impact on the kid, it's the act. You have to make the kid SCARED to do it again, not from the pain but from your wrath. Yes, maybe a slap here and there is required when they just won't listen but if you do it too much and with little reason then it will desensitize him/her and that's when they don't listen to you and don't have that fear of god anymore.