I ended up beating my son since he received bad grades in his math class.
That must have been horrendous for him. But, did you need to punish your son?
I felt like I had to. I knew it was time to act so I wasted no time.
Perhaps your son should try harder in math class but striking him is not the correct way to go about it. Perhaps ask him what the problems are in math class or why he has issues learning it.
He needs to learn when to buckle down and do the work.
Every parent is entitled to parent the way they need to. Just know that there are more ways to parent than just beatings. Try to mix up your ways of discipline so your children also know how to voice their emotions and talk about their feelings.