I have some sympathy for Adrian Peterson of the Vikings, as he was disciplining his children the way he was disciplined by his family. He has said as much. We all know that children learn by watching adults, and it’s not surprising to me that someone who hasn’t had (or made) the space to think about childrearing and discipline winds up disciplining the same way he was. He’s young enough and his life has centered around football for so long, he hasn’t developed the maturity it takes to be a parent.
Now, he is charged with the abuse of his child. I can imagine there’s confusion in his mind — switching is what he got as a child. Was that child abuse back then? Were his parents child abusers? Are they now also considered child abusers? It’s a hard place to be, acknowledging that your parents would be considered child abusers in today’s world and that you too are now considered a child abuser by the law because you were raising your children the way you were raised. His parents were probably tough disciplinarians (like their parents) but they loved and wanted the best for Adrian, too.
Adrian Peterson has a lot of thinking and reconciling to do. He is learning, the hard way, that switching is not how you discipline kids. The court will probably “give” him that opportunity to think and learn and reconcile. May he mature, and become a better parent and learn effective disciplinary methods.
There are more Adrian Petersons out there, male and female. They don’t attract the attention like a professional football player. But hopefully they will take note of Adrian Peterson’s situation, take it to heart, and also work to be a better disciplinarian, before they wind up opening the door to a Child Protective Officer.