According to the research, children spanked up to the age of 6 were likely as teenagers to perform better at school and were more likely to carry out volunteer work and to want to go to college than their peers who had never been physically disciplined.
But children who continued to be spanked into adolescence showed clear behavioral problems.

What is a parent to do if there adolescent child needs a good spanking? It’s kind of like a chicken and egg discussion. Do the spankings lead to behavior problems or do the behavioral problems lead to spanking? Anyway, my parents stopped with the spankings for me around 12 I think? Maybe a little younger. I think I turned out all right. I’ve never been arrested. Ultimately children need discipline. There’s no doubt a lot of our educational problems in this country boil down to parental issues.