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Dad Bloggers Take On The Adrian Peterson Story and Child Abuse

dad-bloggers-logoParenting, fatherhood, motherhood–it’s not easy. Making the decision to not beat your kids? That shouldn’t be a difficult decision. Nick wrote a post about it on his site, but so did many of our fellow dad bloggers.

Here is a quick round-up of those posts. As new ones come, we’ll add them in. They are all great reads–and well worth the time spent. The theme that ties them all together–It’s Not OK To Beat Your Kids.

Nick wrote about it over at Papa Brownie. Here is a quick excerpt:

“I want to talk about how we, as a society, discipline our kids. Peterson doesn’t believe what he did was wrong. He even said so in a statement he released. This is the way he was disciplined by his father growing up, and this is the way they did things in the south–where he was raised. We all live in different cultures in this country. Things are very different here in Philadelphia than they are in Texas, or Arkansas, or California, or even in New York. And things were completely different when it comes to disciplining kids when I was a kid, or when my parents were kids. I got spanked. A lot. If I misbehaved, I got spanked with a wooden spoon. Not to the point of bleeding. Not the point that I was scarred physically or emotionally. I got the point. Did I ever get hit with a belt? Nope. A switch? Hell no. Now? Spanking in general is frowned upon in society. It’s what happens over time–things change. Ideas change. The way we carry ourselves in general changes.”

Here is an excerpt from Aaron at The Daddy Files‘ take on the whole story:

“It is never acceptable to beat a little kid bloody with a weapon, because that is always child abuse. I can’t believe it’s 2014 and I have to spell that out for people. Yet in the wake of star running back Adrian Peterson’s grand jury indictment for reckless and negligent injury to a child, it’s clear there are grown men and women out there who still think it’s OK to strip leaves off a tree branch and whip a 4-year-old until he bleeds. To stuff leaves in his mouth. To cut him on the legs, thighs, buttocks, and scrotum. To whip him between 10-15 times, leaving defensive wounds on the poor kid’s hands that were still readily apparent even a week later when photographs were taken.”

John Kinnear from Ask Your Dad Blog also hits the nail on the head:

“And I am angry. I am disgusted. Not just at Adrian Peterson, but at any context in which this becomes acceptable and defendable. It is not. No child should endure this. If we did this to a prisoner it would be considered cruel and unusual punishment. And yet, because it is “tradition” it is OK. In some families it is OK to beat a child with stick.”

David Stanley at Dads Roundtable says it’s time for him to quit the NFL for a while, in light of the Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson cases. And the NFL’s poor handling of these cases:

“It’s time for me to quit the NFL. I’m gone until Commissioner Roger Goodell steps down. Any organization which is so unwilling to repudiate a culture of family abuse doesn’t deserve our money. I’m willing to accept a fair amount of dumb behavior from men in their twenties. We all did dumb stuff at that age, we made it right as best we could, we learned from it, and we went on to lead positive lives. But the NFL, led by the Roger Goodell, refuses to accept that they have a significant role in shaping important discussions in the US.”

Mike at Puzzling Posts says it’s never okay to hit a child–and he’s right:

“Well, being a human, it turns out this topic isn’t as hard to write about as I thought it might be.

It’s wrong to hit a child.

It’s not right to hit a child.

It has always been wrong to hit a child.

It will always be wrong to hit a child.

There’s no lesson here to teach my children. There’s no, “it’s important to know that some people are allowed to whip children and some aren’t.”

Russell at Day Parent Dad tells the NFL there is no rational argument for hitting a child:

Dear NFL,

There is no rational argument to hit a child. There is no rational argument to keep a player who admits to hitting a child so hard that he breaks the skin in multiple places.

The recent NFL domestic violence incidents and past history reveal a terrible culture within your organization. You need help and I hope you find it quickly. 

Sincerely, 
A Fading Fan”