I can only speak for myself but I was spanked as a child and in fact got the belt a few times. What it taught me was to weigh what I was doing against getting caught. More than once this kept me on the straight and narrow. As an adult I still loved my father and miss him very much. As a parent with only one child ( grown up now ) I had never laid hand on her nor had my wife ( her mother ). I believe I turned out pretty good for the most part. I do not advocate striking a child but by the same token if a little swat on the butt may remind a child not to run out into the street I can't say that's a bad thing. I guess we all have to decide that for ourselves. To the question, I agree getting him a little tool set of his own sounds like the way to go.