When is punishment child abuse? #tellusatoday

8:20 p.m. EDT September 21, 2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Letters to the editor:

As a pediatrician, I am required to report child abuse, or any reasonable suspicion of child abuse, and failure to do so would be a crime. But the  cases are not always black and white. Human beings are making these judgments so they will never be perfect (“Whippings part of Adrian  Peterson’s childhood“).

Declarations by Adrian Peterson that he is not a child abuser are meaningless. Claiming that he acted as he did — whipping his 4-year-old son  with a switch — because this was how he was disciplined a generation ago is a pathetic justification. Every adult is responsible for his actions as  a parent regardless of how his own parents disciplined him.

No reasonable person can look at those photos and those descriptions and defend Peterson. There will be legal consequences for this behavior.

 

David Safir; Los Gatos, Calif.

When the Adrian Peterson scandal first broke, I wondered what the big deal was.

Many people responded that way, including former NBA player Charles Barkley. Barkley said in an interview: “We all spanked our kids. I got spanked, me and my two brothers.”

Many people believe spanking/being hit with a switch shouldn’t be considered child abuse. Even in a statement from Peterson, he said he was just disciplining his child the way he had been disciplined. I don’t believe Peterson did anything wrong.

Lindsay Perry; West Chester, Pa.

When people resort to violence, it’s usually because words have failed them. Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson says he respects his parents, who beat him as a child, and Janay Rice married the man who beat her senseless.

One can only wonder what kind of men Peterson and former Baltimore Ravens player Ray Rice would be if their parents had taught them negotiating, communication and interpersonal relationship skills rather than “in this world you only get what you are strong enough to take.”
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/09/21/adrian-peterson-whipping-switch-tellusatoday-your-say/16018217/