I've had this discussion a fair few times. Not here, but anytime spanking is brought up, there's always someone going 'IT'S CRUEL TO SPANK.' If you have a child who doesn't need to spanked, and responds well to being sat down, explained why their behavior was wrong, and then never repeats the behavior again, good for you. Don't spank that kid. It's over kill and not needed. However, if you have a kid who DOESN'T do that, then a firm ass whipping every now and then will curb future shitty behavior. I personally believe that when they're old enough to grab things, you pop their hands when they start trying to, say, touch the stove. I'd rather have a kid with a red mark for three minutes than one with a three day burn. Once they're old enough to reason, you tell them if they do x, then y will be the punishment. (1 lick with the belt, three swats with your hand, whatever) Follow through a few times, and eventually they won't test you when you say 'you're gonna get a spankin'.' Also, you never discipline when you're pissed off. That's asking for trouble. But so long as the parents are responsible, I think it's fine. My parents raised me the exact way I listed, and I feel no ill will or resentment towards them, and am a relatively well adjusted member of society. What I DO feel resentment for is when a toddler throws a temper tantrum in a restaurant because he doesn't know how to accept that he was told no and wants ice cream, and the ******* parents just sit there and do nothing.

children are disgusting

Multiple thumbs up number 56!! I cant stand the way some kids are in public!

How old is your son? Surely old enough to know better if he's going on a diving board by himself while you're applying sunscreen...in which case, punishment is definitely necessary. And I agree with people saying he needs to be spanked. Has he not been properly taught what is acceptable behavior in public and what is not? Kids these days aren't disciplined, and that's why they do things like this all the time - they think/know they can get away with it because parents aren't doing their job. I hope you punished him, OP, because not only is that gross, but the whole pool had to be closed down to fish the shit (literally) out of the pool, and then it had to be cleaned and sanitized to prevent the spread of any diseases. Everyone would be pissed at you, and quite frankly, I don't blame them. So it's gross and a penalty for the innocent pool-goers.

How old is he? I feel sorry for the dirty looks you probably got from everyone as you left.

That is disgusting and he definitely needs to be punished. If it was me, I would be giving him a spanking, after a good talk to make sure he knows why he was getting spanked.

Although I agree with pretty much everything you're saying, I would just like to share my opinion on the whole "ignoring a kid while they're having a temper tantrum" thing... Though I agree that it's not acceptable to do this in a restaurant and that you should either leave, take your kid to the bathroom to sort them out, or not go to restaurants at all (I haven't been to one without a children's play area in way too long), but I think there are times when really the best response to a tantrum is to act like it's not even happening. My one daughter went through a horrible phase where she would throw the most ridiculous tantrums, rolling around on the floor, screaming. I tried time-outs, I tried spanking and neither worked. I then would just absolutely ignore it. Within a week and half she stopped throwing tantrums. My point being really that you need to find what form of punishment/what kind of reaction works with your child. Depending on the age of the OP's son, a hiding might not even have much affect. I remember my brother stopped being affected by hidings at a much younger age than me and would pretend to cry to keep up the charade ha ha.

There is a reason some species consume their young. :)

Today, I was swimming in a public pool, as I swam under the diving board I felt something drop on my head. Turns out some idiotic kid decided to drop a deuce off the diving board. FML

For poor OP's sake, hopefully no older than 5...