Peterson's child abuse, culture change badly needed

Adrian Peterson

Adrian Peterson

I have heard a lot of talk today about there being a “fine line” between punishment and abuse and that the subject of Adrian Peterson’s charges is difficult because of a generational gap in beliefs on how to discipline and raise a child. To those statements, I would simply like to swear. However, I will refrain from such vulgarity and attempt to address the issue in a somewhat professional manner. That line of thought is garbage.

First, I would like to remind everyone who needs it, that punishment is meant to be a means of deterring bad behavior and while pain may be a consequence of that deterrent, pain is not the objective. To “punish” with the intent to cause harm is simply abuse. Repeated harm falls into the realm of torture. Spanking or a catching a whipping with a switch when used as a punishment does not leave lasting marks nor does it involve the breaking of skin resulting in open wounds. Such an act can be viewed as nothing less than abuse.

Secondly, there is no difficulty in addressing the subject because of a generational gap because abuse is abuse whether it was “back in the day” or today. It seems that the lawyers for Peterson are trying to make everyone who has ever spanked or been spanked side with their client by simply lumping his transgressions into a specific way of life. Again, the urge to swear is rising.

Please understand this is not a debate on spanking, this is a person who took disciplining too far. It makes no difference what our personal thoughts are on the matter of discipline, this is a case about abuse. I am not a lawyer and I do not know all the intricacies law so I am not qualified to speak on what charges are correct for Peterson to face but I would take the same stance I took with Ray Rice, Peterson does not need to be playing football right now. Peterson needs to go get help.

If he does not realize that what he is doing is unacceptable or that it crosses every line into abuse he needs counseling and therapy until he does realize it. At that point, he would than need to continue therapy to make sure that he deals with the issues that cause him to react so violently to his son.

I am reminded of the saying many parents say before spanking their child, “this will hurt me more than it hurts you.” That should always be the truth. When you are looking at photos of a four year old child split open across the entire backside of his body, it is impossible to believe that Peterson was hurt more by that action than his son.

It just seems to me that we have entered into a new era in our sports culture and it is not a good one. Ray Rice, Hope Solo, Adrian Peterson, Greg Hardy, and Ray McDonald are just a few of the cases of violence that have happened this year. It is appalling at how much is done as a reaction to bad PR and how frighteningly little is done to deter the problems from happening again.

So what do we do? Spewing vitriol across the social media platforms may sate our initial need to react to these outrageous acts but with so many despicable stories coming across our news feeds at some point all the words will fade into noise and the outrage into apathy. This is where I think the generational gap would come into play.

There was a time when playing a sport was a way to grow as a human being. Where being a coach meant shaping and molding the lives of children into upstanding human beings. A coach could easily become a surrogate parent for a young child in need of one or an extra source of support and love for others. There was a time when more was expected of an athlete not less. Now, I may sound like an old man reminiscing about glory days long gone but I would challenge you to tell me how a return to those standards would be a bad thing.

Somewhere along the line, when the money got really good, athletes stopped being viewed as people and started being viewed as assets. The leaders that used to instill discipline into those under their influence started looking to exploit them for greater positions of power for themselves. It is the oldest story of greed and the love of money and the corruption that comes with it.

Athletes started being protected from trouble to protect the pockets of those in charge. Life lessons and discipline had been replaced with entitlement and a feeling of invincibility. Sadly, the tragedy of the child abuse scandal at Penn State is an example of what can happen when greed is put ahead of morals. Unfortunately, the outrage at that atrocity has had no lasting effect. Penn State’s punishment has been reduced at regular intervals and the front office officials of these sports teams still seem to think sweeping away a PR problem is the correct course of action.

I want to be clear, Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, and the others are responsible for their actions and should be punished. However, such acts are becoming far too common and if those who have the power to evoke change are not doing so, they also hold some blame for their failures. These organizations and their leaders cannot keep running from a problem. Accountability is required from the NFL commissioner’s office to the Pop Warner coach to the parents to the fans to you and to me.

We have to stand up in our spheres of influence and say this type of behavior is not okay and will not be tolerated.

It would not surprise me if Adrian Peterson did not get in trouble when his case goes to court. I would actually be surprised if it went to trial. High priced lawyers are capable of a lot of things. But I think the Vikings should be able to look at the pictures and know that Peterson needs help and just sit him down and get him help. I thought that was what the Ravens should have done with Rice.

The right decisions are not the ones that make sense from a PR point of view but the ones that make sense from a people point of view. What is best for the person or persons involved not the bottom line. No excuses need to be made for these people and punishment is absolutely required but a change in culture is needed just as badly.

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Brian Hradsky

The owner of MSB, I created this website while in college and it has never died.

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