Corporal Punishment and the Peterson case...

The National Football League (NFL) has been in our news on a daily basis first with Ray Rice and the beating of his girlfriend to now Adrien Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings and his “whooping” of his four year-old son with a “switch”. 

There are a number of issues that present themselves to us as a society in the Peterson case.

For you who are not familiar with a “switch” it is a very skinny tree branch with the leaves removed. I am familiar with a switch or “ruzga” in Polish because it was used to punish children when I was growing up in the 1950s but I never witnessed a punishment done with a ruzga and never experienced one myself.

I do know how much damage a switch can do on a body since we did play with them and can only imagine what it can do on a small child’s body. Since it is skinny and pliable, it can leave welts, draw blood and bend around legs and butts and in some cases, leave permanent scarring.

Corporal punishment of children has been a debated subject between generations. My generation had no problems with corporal punishment and followed what Pavlov stipulated in his classical conditioning experiments; if you associate pain with a certain behavior, you will be less likely to repeat that behavior.

My generation used the belt to “scare” children but rarely used it; more often a quick slap on the butt with an open hand was the norm.

My son’s and daughter’s generation do not believe in corporal punishment of any kind and use things such as “time outs” instead and we have followed along with the new methods of discipline even though sometimes I have to look away when the new methods don’t have the same results like a swift kick in the butt.

I cannot tell you if one method is better than the other in bringing up children. I do know that my kids have grown up to be what I consider, perfect adults and very responsible members of our society.

I am aware of new data that shows that corporal punishment has a negative effect on a child and even into adulthood.

What I have been describing here are generational differences in methods of child discipline.

What has happened in the Peterson case is the emergence of cultural and geographical differences of child discipline. Peterson who is  black and from the South has had numerous prominent blacks stand up and defend his method of discipline as a classical, tried and true method of Southern blacks, practiced to this very day. Charles Barkley said that if this method is deemed illegal than most if not all black families in the South would have to be arrested.

My grandson Luke is four and I could never imagine him getting a “whooping” with a switch on bare skin no matter what he did and what could he actually do at that age that would deserve such an extreme punishment…but that is just me.

D.L. Hughly, talking on a radio show said that that form of punishment is necessary to teach black children how to behave properly especially in public in order to save their lives as teens and adults since young black males are more often shot by police based on their appearance and behavior.

We have a situation in Detroit where a 17 year-old body slammed a school guard on a cement floor nearly killing him. Because the youth is a stand out quarterback and a Michigan State prospect, he was given a second chance which he said on TV would be all the lesson he needed to be a model citizen. Hours after he was released from jail he was re-arrested for beating up his girlfriend.

The Minnesota Vikings have suspended Peterson from playing football until his legal situation is settled. This is the appropriate way to handle such cases; let the legal process proceed.

The NFL Players Association has sued the NFL on behalf of Ray Rice citing the fact that he was punished twice for the same offense. 

Many are asking what the role of the NFL should be in regards to player’s personal and private life off the field of play. Some are saying we have a legal system that handles criminal behavior and the NFL should first let the law do its work before deciding what to do with the player.

These issues have been with us for a very long time but have remained hidden. Now in the digital age, nothing remains hidden for long but is played out on a stage for all of us to see and to judge…