Adrian Peterson indicted after giving his son a 'whooping'

Hold old are your kids, Jim?

They are 12. For the record I haven't spanked them in years. The last time I was going to was when one had punched the other in the eye. But once I found out what had happened I learned that the other had talked a neighbor boy into throwing sticks at his brother. So I told the one who had been punched "I didn't spank your brother because you deserved to get hit." I'm not sure what's the point of that anecdote except that I chuckle to myself every time I tell it and I could use a little laughter these days.
 
They are 12. For the record I haven't spanked them in years. The last time I was going to was when one had punched the other in the eye. But once I found out what had happened I learned that the other had talked a neighbor boy into throwing sticks at his brother. So I told the one who had been punched "I didn't spank your brother because you deserved to get hit." I'm not sure what's the point of that anecdote except that I chuckle to myself every time I tell it and I could use a little laughter these days.

Thanks for the reply. You are right in the thick of things! My son is 27; my daughter 25. I recall the toughest thing to deal with when they were little was the fighting.
 
I get the feeling many of the people here would rather keep pretending they didn't act in a way that gave their children worse chances at success in life statistically than to change and fix the problem.

Your first job as a parent is to protect your kids and give them the best possible chance of success in life. Your ego shouldn't be more important than that. But for some, it clearly is. I'm out of this cesspool of abusive parents. It's like trying to explain music to the deaf.

My kids are both middle school aged honor roll students, well adjusted and behaved, can think for themselves, take care of themselves and have lots of friends.

Once and while when they were little they got their butts smacked to stop a tantrum or for something particularly awful.

Sorry I don't fit into your statistic.

I think you are better off letting this go until you get some kids of your own. Watching somebody elses doesn't count. Kids behave the worst for their own parents.
 
That would be terrifying as an adult (unless you were into that sort of thing), but damn--a 4 year-old? Imagine this huge beast that you're supposed to rely on and trust starts beating the snot out of you.

It makes the world a bad place to be. I can't make decisions for everyone, but if you're going to hit another human being, I think it ought to be in self-defense. Violence doesn't teach anyone anything good.
 
My kids are both middle school aged honor roll students, well adjusted and behaved, can think for themselves, take care of themselves and have lots of friends.

Once and while when they were little they got their butts smacked to stop a tantrum or for something particularly awful.

Sorry I don't fit into your statistic.

I think you are better off letting this go until you get some kids of your own. Watching somebody elses doesn't count. Kids behave the worst for their own parents.

There are appropriate uses--I grabbed and yanked my daughter's hair to keep her from running into a busy street. I also smacked her hand to keep her away from a hot stove, but Jesus....walloping on a child is wrong on so many levels when there are many other ways. It's the easy way, not the right way.
 
There are appropriate uses--I grabbed and yanked my daughter's hair to keep her from running into a busy street. I also smacked her hand to keep her away from a hot stove, but Jesus....walloping on a child is wrong on so many levels when there are many other ways. It's the easy way, not the right way.

My mom was a hair puller. She used to rip out chunks. You'd learn real fast to never do that again.

I turned out fine.

The hitting with the stick was excessive. But it wasn't a serious injury, it was some scratches. My kids have come in from normal play with worse. He knew he went to far, admitted his mistake. It wasn't a situation for government.

A quick smack on the butt to shock a young child out of a tantrum or to stop them from beating up a sibling isn't abuse or walloping on your kid.
 
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Well, one of them did marry Jesse Benton..............................

Everyone here who is at least tacitly supporting switching/spanking/smacking should be aware that Ron Paul didn't even yell at his children, let alone hit them.

They seem to have turned out OK.

"Mrs. Paul was a stay-at-home mom, longtime Girl Scout troop leader and self-described “busybody” who prided herself on knowing exactly what everyone was doing. If one of the children misbehaved, her husband did not spank or yell. Instead, he sometimes gave them written assignments, Mrs. Paul said, explaining, “He believed in exercising the brain.”"

Imagine that. It is possible to raise children without hitting them. Who would have guessed?!
 
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Not going to read all 9 pages to see if this was said already:

It's the very act of the "spanking" that influences or corrects the behavior, not any physical trauma delivered by the spanking itself.
In example, a parent can playfully pop their child on the bum while laughing, and the kid will laugh along. Then strike with the same
force while making a stern face and raise your voice in a corrective manner, and the kid will howl like it lost an arm.

You don't have to hurt them to deliver a spanking. And if you're leaving marks on your 4 year old and drawing blood, you've taken it way, way, way too far.
 
Not going to read all 9 pages to see if this was said already:

It's the very act of the "spanking" that influences or corrects the behavior, not any physical trauma delivered by the spanking itself.
In example, a parent can playfully pop their child on the bum while laughing, and the kid will laugh along. Then strike with the same
force while making a stern face and raise your voice in a corrective manner, and the kid will howl like it lost an arm.

You don't have to hurt them to deliver a spanking. And if you're leaving marks on your 4 year old and drawing blood, you've taken it way, way, way too far.

I've heard the same argument in favor of allowing a husband to "pop" his wife for disobeying him.
 
That would be terrifying as an adult (unless you were into that sort of thing), but damn--a 4 year-old? Imagine this huge beast that you're supposed to rely on and trust starts beating the snot out of you.

It makes the world a bad place to be. I can't make decisions for everyone, but if you're going to hit another human being, I think it ought to be in self-defense. Violence doesn't teach anyone anything good.

Regardless of how you feel about its acceptability, can we distinguish between mild spanking and "beating the snot out?" If not, why not?
 
TMZ is reporting that abuse has been reported on a second child. This time he allegedly hit the child in the face. Still sticking by Adrian Peterson, spank fans?

http://www.tmz.com/2014/09/15/adria...-investigation-houston-minnesota-vikings-nfl/

Honestly? Each case should stand on its own merit (or fall on its lack). I expected them to start questioning the other kids right away, which is a shame in the sense that it could mess things up for them if nothing really out of line happened with any of the other kids.
 
It sounds from the report as though Peterson may have admitted to striking the child in the face via text message. I'll be interested to see more details emerge about that one.
 
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