Dear Commons Community,
In light of the controversy surrounding professional football player Adrian Peterson, Charles Blow examines issues related to disciplining children. To recap the controversy:
Adrian Peterson was booked and released following his indictment for negligent injury to a child charges. Peterson was booked in a Montgomery County Texas Jail last Saturday. According to law-enforcement sources, the Minnesota Vikings running back beat his 4-year-old son with a tree branch as a form of punishment this summer, an incident that allegedly resulted in multiple injuries to the child. According to reports, Peterson has been indicted in Montgomery County, Texas for injury to a child. The “whooping” – as Peterson put it when interviewed by police – occurred in Spring, Texas, in May. Peterson’s son had pushed another one of Peterson’s children off of a motorbike video game. As punishment, Peterson grabbed a tree branch – which he consistently referred to as a “switch” – removed the leaves and struck the child repeatedly.
Blow refers to a report published by Child Trends:
“Use of corporal punishment is linked to negative outcomes for children (e.g., delinquency, antisocial behavior, psychological problems, and alcohol and drug abuse), and may be indicative of ineffective parenting. Research also finds that the number of problem behaviors observed in adolescence is related to the amount of spanking a child receives. The greater the age of the child, the stronger the relationship.
“Positive child outcomes are more likely when parents refrain from using spanking and other physical punishment, and instead discipline their children through communication that is firm, reasoned and nurturing. Studies find this type of discipline can foster positive psychological outcomes, such as high self-esteem and cooperation with others, as well as improved achievement in school.”
The group also pointed out just how pervasive the practice is:
“In 2012, according to a nationally representative survey, 77 percent of men, and 65 percent of women 18 to 65 years old agreed that a child sometimes needs a ‘good hard spanking.’ ”
The group continued:
“One of the most frequently used strategies to discipline a child, especially a younger child, is spanking. About 94 percent of parents of children ages 3 to 4 in the United States report having spanked their children in the previous year.”
Spanking is an age-old disciplinary technique, so turning the tide against it may be difficult.”
Blow concludes that “the drawing of blood isn’t an expression of love but more an expression of anger and exasperation that has morphed into abuse”.
Tony
