Rebyidd, nowhere did I see that ‘it’s about beating them to get rid of the inner demon’. Avram, no, children that age will NOT understand not to touch private property if they haven’t been taught the concept from a young age.
As to your assertion that children below 12 months will not understand the meaning of the word no – my 7 month old is already beginning to understand what ‘no’ means. And since I have acutally studied child development, I can tell you that from about six months of age babies are beginning to comprehend language and not just inflection, so it is not just that my baby is advanced. After the parent says ‘no’, they move the object out of reach. And why should the child become afraid of that object rather than learning it is untouchable? Babies pick up what the parent gives off, so if the parent is not showing any fear, the child will not learn that.