My mum says she regretted hitting me as a child. She said that parents who hit their children do so because they have no control over their children.
I still remember parts of my childhood being terrified of my dad and him chasing me to hit me and having a huge palm print on my thigh for hours. I even got repetitive nightmares about him, but my dad was basically beaten as a child.
Funnily enough, I can't remember ever doing anything so bad to justify being hit and I think I was actually a very good child growing up. Sometimes saying something or a word with a funny tone or attitude would result being hit and that makes me think that they were taking their frustration out on me.
There are ways to discipline and teach children without physical violence (Nanny 911 for example) but parents seem to find that it's too time consuming or too much hassle, when really, the time invested is worth it because you have a better relationship, the child's behaviour tends to improve and they don't grow up thinking that hitting is okay!
I saw the news about this and it said they are trying to make children equal to adults and physical assault on an adult is illegal so it should be on children. I think it makes sense and it may make parents consider alternatives to hitting.