Adrian Peterson and Parenting

Okay, I grew up in the South and one of the most horrible phrases we ever heard as a kid was "Go pick out your switch." It always followed us doing something we'd been clearly instructed not to do.

Yep, I got spanked with a switch and with a belt.

If I threw a tantrum and refused to obey my parents my dad would have probably taken his belt to my behind. His "whooping" of me and my siblings was more symbolic than physically punitive. Yep, we'd get a few licks across our behinds.

Never, NEVER anything that was even remotely severe enough to leave a mark. Much less leave wounds a doctor would see days later and feel compelled to report to Child Protective Services.

With respect to the Adrian Peterson stories I find this particular text from him to his baby-momma particularly disturbing.

"But I felt so bad, n I’m all tearing that butt up when needed! I start putting them in timeout. N save the whooping for needed memories!”

The thought "tearing that butt up when needed" really disturbs me. When, exactly, does a 4-year-old's butt need "tearing up?" For that matter, when does a child of any age need their butt torn up? And if you "felt so bad" then why didn't you stop?

Exactly what kind of "needed memories" is Peterson hoping to instill in his children? Fear that they will be physically abused? That seems so.

Sure, the child in question misbehaved. He apparently pushed another kid off a video game. Wow, not shocking that a 4-year-old would do such a thing. Yes, the child needed to be corrected about his bad behavior.

However, I think a simple swat on the behind and actually talking to the child and saying things like "No" and "No, don't do that" would have been more than sufficient.

"Whooping" a kid with a tree branch is completely over the line.