Vikings RB Adrian Peterson indicted for child abuse; deactivated for Pats game at Minnesota

PATS16N0 said:

When this story first broke, it was possible stern parenting was being reported as child abuse.

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PATS16N0, this is why the texts are, to me, at least as telling as the photos. A "stern disciplinarian" who has a healthy control of his temper and is trying to instruct rather than inflict harm doesn't find himself, repeatedly, explaining to the mothers of pre-school children why he left them with bloody wounds -- and how it was all the preschoolers' own fault, see what they made him do.

Discipline is about instilling a sense of responsibility. Abuse instills fear, pain and shame, and the belief that you're no good and deserve no better.

Is anyone else having a hard time figuring out how the other kid supposedly hit his head on a car seat hard enough to leave a scar? Those things are all padding and rounded plastic.

I understand that there are people that believe beating children is cultural. And I see some evidence of that in this thread. I think it is important to remember, cultural things aren't always good. In some places, it is cultural for women to throw themselves onto funeral pyres when their husband dies. In the US it was once cultural to burn women at the stake for being witches. Slavery was a cultural way of life in the Southern US. Genital mutilations are often practiced culturally in various places worldwide. While there are many wonderful cultural practices, there are also a lot of horrible things people have spent years explaining away as "culture". All culture means is the people before you behaved a certain way. In no way is it a sanctioning of such behavior. If you find yourself explaining this with culture, I encourage you to examine this cultural behavior with a closer lens. Posts on a message board are not always indicative of real life, however from some of these posts I'm getting the sense that he word 'culture' is being used to explain away child abuse.

At this point, I'm just waiting for the next shoe to drop on this case.

DefenseRules said:

At this point, I'm just waiting for the next shoe to drop on this case.

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I'm sure that AP will drop it when he's done beating one of his illegitimate kids with it.

Haley said:

I understand that there are people that believe beating children is cultural. And I see some evidence of that in this thread. I think it is important to remember, cultural things aren't always good. In some places, it is cultural for women to throw themselves onto funeral pyres when their husband dies. In the US it was once cultural to burn women at the stake for being witches. Slavery was a cultural way of life in the Southern US. Genital mutilations are often practiced culturally in various places worldwide. While there are many wonderful cultural practices, there are also a lot of horrible things people have spent years explaining away as "culture". All culture means is the people before you behaved a certain way. In no way is it a sanctioning of such behavior. If you find yourself explaining this with culture, I encourage you to examine this cultural behavior with a closer lens. Posts on a message board are not always indicative of real life, however from some of these posts I'm getting the sense that he word 'culture' is being used to explain away child abuse.

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You're right on the money. I can't count the number of times I've seen someone excuse an obviously abhorrent behavior with "it's his/her culture." It's a swell catchall.

What he did was wrong, But, he seems to have acted out of ignorance rather than malicious intent. You can fix ignorance. I would send him to counseling not jail. Some people just need to get some in these things.

Nunchucks said:

What he did was wrong, But, he seems to have acted out of ignorance rather than malicious intent. You can fix ignorance. I would send him to counseling not jail. Some people just need to get some in these things.

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Ignorance of what, exactly? The effects of repeated blows of a branch on 4-year-old flesh? Yeah, that's going to be a tough sell, seeing as he's confirmed that he regularly dishes out beatings.

The fact that he may not believe he's doing anything wrong (which is frightening) doesn't negate the fact that he knows what the effects will be.

Fixit said:

Ignorance of what, exactly? The effects of repeated blows of a branch on 4-year-old flesh? Yeah, that's going to be a tough sell, seeing as he's confirmed that he regularly dishes out beatings.

The fact that he may not believe he's doing anything wrong (which is frightening) doesn't negate the fact that he knows what the effects will be.

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He doesn't know any better. That is what he learned growing up. Show him the right way and give him a chance at redemption.

Putting him in jail does not help anybody.

Nunchucks said:

He doesn't know any better. That is what he learned growing up. Show him the right way and give him a chance at redemption.

Putting him in jail does not help anybody.

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That's for the due process of the court system to decide.

Meanwhile, it helped Michael Vick and a whole lot of dogs.

Perhaps, this would help Adrian Peterson and 7 children (as far as we know).

Nunchucks said:

He doesn't know any better. That is what he learned growing up. Show him the right way and give him a chance at redemption.

Putting him in jail does not help anybody.

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It sure helps his kids. I can't believe that anyone's painting AP as an unknowing victim here.

DefenseRules said:

At this point, I'm just waiting for the next shoe to drop on this case.

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You mean like this?

http://m.espn.go.com/nfl/story?storyId=11534340

Fixit said:

It sure helps his kids. I can't believe that anyone's painting AP as an unknowing victim here.

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A victim? No, a person that needs to learn that the methods of the past are no longer acceptable.

Again, I am drawing the line at whether he had malicious intent.

I was the victim off child abuse and it was malicious. I am not sure that Peterson was being cruel for the sake of being cruel. He thought he was doing the right thing. With some counseling he could be rehabilitated.

It was not that long ago when fathers routinely Beat their children For misbehaving.

As for Vick. He was being cruel for the sake of being cruel.

Nunchucks said:

A victim? No, a person that needs to learn that the methods of the past are no longer acceptable.

Again, I am drawing the line at whether he had malicious intent.

I was the victim off child abuse and it was malicious. I am not sure that Peterson was being cruel for the sake of being cruel. He thought he was doing the right thing. With some counseling he could be rehabilitated.

It was not that long ago when fathers routinely Beat their children For misbehaving.

As for Vick. He was being cruel for the sake of being cruel.

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No, Vick didn't know any better. It was how he was raised, and was part of his culture. We heard that a million times.

So you'll (deservedly) condemn a guy for brutalizing dogs, but when it comes to children, the abuser can be rehabilitated?

shmessy said:

That's for the due process of the court system to decide.

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This is important. It is the legal system that provides the framework for consistency in the treatment of these cases. AP should not receive special treatment due to notoriety, neither harsher nor softer in response. He should receive a sentence similar to those with similar circumstances that came before him. If this means he receives hours of community service or alternatively some amount of jail time, then so be it. The justice system is the best arbitration and mitigation system we currently have to offer. It is the responsibility of the justice department to make sure that the sentence is befitting of the actions.

Fixit said:

No, Vick didn't know any better. It was how he was raised, and was part of his culture. We heard that a million times.

So you'll (deservedly) condemn a guy for brutalizing dogs, but when it comes to children, the abuser can be rehabilitated?

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Um, being part of dog fighting is one thing....torturing dogs, slamming them on the ground to kill them....hooking a car battery up to them and shocking them.....that is a little bit more, don't you think?

He switched his kid. He definitely took corporal punishment to an unacceptable level, but I it isn't like he is drunk slapping his kids around for making noise or crying too much or knocking over a drink. It was not done in anger ( I do not think from what I have heard). It was done to impart a lesson.

Sometimes people just need to be told a better way and they improve.

Do not get me wrong, switching a 4 year old child is ridiculous. I have young children and would never dream of such punishment, but I know better.

I do not think putting him in jail helps the kids at all. Jail is not a solution, it should be reserved for people who have proven that they cannot adhere to the rules of society or have committed egregious acts that must be atoned for......Peterson most likely will receive counseling and could go on to be a great dad.....Though, I am a little skeptical of that since he has a number of children by different women.

Haley said:

This is important. It is the legal system that provides the framework for consistency in the treatment of these cases. AP should not receive special treatment due to notoriety, neither harsher nor softer in response. He should receive a sentence similar to those with similar circumstances that came before him. If this means he receives hours of community service or alternatively some amount of jail time, then so be it. The justice system is the best arbitration and mitigation system we currently have to offer. It is the responsibility of the justice department to make sure that the sentence is befitting of the actions.

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He will most likely receive probation or a suspended sentence followed by mandatory counseling.

Nunchucks said:

He will most likely receive probation or a suspended sentence followed by mandatory counseling.

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My point is, regardless of what sentence he receives, it will be based upon more information than my message-board-posting opinion. They have books upon books of similar cases and the judge will weigh out his case against those.

Nunchucks said:

Um, being part of dog fighting is one thing....torturing dogs, slamming them on the ground to kill them....hooking a car battery up to them and shocking them.....that is a little bit more, don't you think?

He switched his kid. He definitely took corporal punishment to an unacceptable level, but I it isn't like he is drunk slapping his kids around for making noise or crying too much or knocking over a drink. It was not done in anger ( I do not think from what I have heard). It was done to impart a lesson.

Sometimes people just need to be told a better way and they improve.

Do not get me wrong, switching a 4 year old child is ridiculous. I have young children and would never dream of such punishment, but I know better.

I do not think putting him in jail helps the kids at all. Jail is not a solution, it should be reserved for people who have proven that they cannot adhere to the rules of society or have committed egregious acts that must be atoned for......Peterson most likely will receive counseling and could go on to be a great dad.....Though, I am a little skeptical of that since he has a number of children by different women.

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He beat the Hell out of the four-year-old for pushing an 11-year-old over a video game.

Now read that sentence again, and then tell me what lesson he was being kind enough to teach the kid. Violence is wrong?

You're right, it was clearly coming from a place of love.

PS Just out of curiosity, why would it be worse if he was drunk?

Fixit said:

He beat the Hell out of the four-year-old for pushing an 11-year-old over a video game.

Now read that sentence again, and then tell me what lesson he was being kind enough to teach the kid. Violence is wrong?

You're right, it was clearly coming from a place of love.

PS Just out of curiosity, why would it be worse if he was drunk?

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That was just an example.

I don't think he taught any lesson to the 4 year old, I think he just switched him, which is a fairly common practice in some segments of our society.

He wanted to teach the kid not to act out....maybe he did, most likely he didn't. Either way, he needlessly hurt a helpless 4 year old and that is an awful thing to do.