It would seem that everybody has an opinion on raising kids and punishment. As a former group home parent, I found myself in situations where the smart kids would instigate riots with the less savy ones. I could only use time outs as a punishment. We had one kid, way too smart for his years, who would get other kids into fights and sit back and enjoy the chaos. One night I decided to give myself a time out when he said what are you going to do. He clearly stated I had no power to stop him from doing whatever he wanted. I pointed out to the kids that he was getting into trouble, that I would be taking a time out and would not be able to protect Robert from them for the next minute. They all pounced on him. When I asked them to stop, they did.
I then pointed out to Robert that not only was I there to keep peace but to protect them all. We never had a problem again!