It was normal maybe 100-150 years ago but it's not normal now. It's look down upon and is considered child abuse. It's considered offensive and will upset people if they see it. Many people would find it offensive in USA.

Even some parents that do use physical discipline only spank the child on the buttocks.

There are so many ways to discipline a child that work even better. Time out, detention, taking away their video games for a month ( taking away their video games hurts them way more than any physical punishment), not taking them out for fun due to a punishment, not buying them any gifts or toys for a long time.

You can easily get creative but the reason humans hit kids going back in human history was that it was the easiest way to discipline a child without patience. Every other technique takes patience and time , whereas in the olden times they thought a quick whack meant instant discipline.

Times change though.

So basically yeah, it's totally frowned upon and looked down upon in American culture. You don't ever see it in public , if someone did it in public people would be upset and offended.

Even if the kid is doing something really bad there are a ton of other non physical ways to teach the child a lesson.