An op-ed recently ran on the USA Today website with the title "What's appropriate discipline?". The author of the piece, Jared Pingleton, is a clinical psychiatrist, a minister, and the director for Focus on the Family's counseling department. The piece was written as a direct response to the Adrian Peterson arrest. Peterson, an All-Pro running back for the Minnesota Vikings, was recently charged with reckless or negligent injury to a child in Montgomery County, Texas. Peterson was accused of, and admitted to, disciplining his four year old son by hitting him with a tree branch. This caused the child many cuts and bruises, and ultimately led to the arrest of Peterson. The Vikings subsequently suspended Peterson indefinitely.
Many media figures stood in support of the suspension, and strongly against the physical discipline of a child, as former NFL player Cris Carter said "My mom did the best job she could do raising seven kids by herself, but there are thousands of things that I have learned since then that my mom was wrong. It's the 21st century - my mom was wrong. She did the best she could but she was wrong about some of that stuff she taught me and I promised my kids I won't teach that mess to them."
However, many media figures stood against the Adrian Peterson backlash and talked about how physical discipline of a child is a common practice, and even necessary. Former NBA player Charles Barkley went so far to say in a response to a stance against Peterson's actions by a former NFL player "… but he's a white guy and I'm a black guy. I don't know where he's from, I'm from the South. Whipping - we do that all the time. Every black parent is going to be in jail under those circumstances."
Jared Pingleton writes in his piece that he is also a believer in physical punishment of a child. However, he tries to draw a fine line between child abuse and "affirmation and discipline." He speaks out in favor of mild spanking to keep children in line and to keep them obedient.
I vehemently disagree with Pingleton on this matter. I believe that all varieties of corporal punishment should be taken out of the household. Teaching that violence is the answer installs bad morals for children as they grow older. Adrian Peterson's mom is living proof of this. After her son's arrest, she made a statement saying "we were only trying to prepare them for the real world. When you whip those you love, it's not about abuse, it's about love." Installing this lesson into Adrian Peterson at a very young age, in turn caused the abused to become the abuser.
Cutting back on all corporal punishment and being proactive about punishments should eventually stop the cycle of abuse.
I think your analysis here was really strong. Discipline is a tough topic to work with, and for the most part I think you hit it on the nose, especially in the case of professionals.
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