The Scene staff
Corporal punishment made the news in September, when Minnesota Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson pleaded “no contest” to a reduced charge of misdemeanor reckless assault.
This allowed the 29-year-old to avoid jail time and ended a saga that began Sept. 12, when he was indicted in Texas on a felony for injuring his 4-year-old son while hitting him with a “tree branch.”
Really? I thought it was called a “switch.”
Hmmm … A future hall-of-famer, getting into legal trouble and possibly facing the end of his football career for disciplining his own child.
I’m confused here. Schools can administer corporal punishment but not a father?
Missouri is one of 19 states that still allow corporal punishment in schools. Texas is another. The most recent states to ban it were New Mexico in 2011 and Ohio in 2009. Illinois’ ban took effect 20 years ago.
Many school districts in the St. Louis area don’t allow this type of discipline, according to a recent report by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. That includes St. Louis, Clayton, Lindbergh, Riverview Gardens and Ferguson-Florissant.
District officials apparently believe there are better ways to discipline children, ranging from parent-teacher conferences to suspension or expulsion.
But do those methods really work? Do they make the kind of impression that spanking made on me?
About 4,200 students in Missouri were physically punished during the 2009-10 school year, according to the Post, using statistics from the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.
That’s compared to 184,500 nationally, down from 223,000 during the 2005-06 school year. Corporal punishment is clearly on a downward trend.
But the Missouri Revised Statues state that “discipline, including spanking, administered in a reasonable manner, is not abuse.”
When was the last time you got whipped? For me, it was 1976. My basketball coach, Mr. Bishop, gave me three “licks.”
Bend over, grab your ankles and WHOP!
What did I do wrong? I grew a mustache. Well, it was a little hair on my upper lip, which was cool in high school. But basketball players had to meet different and higher standards.
Mr. Bishop hit me hard, three times on the butt with a wooden paddle, which had holes drilled in it, naturally. That made it hurt more. It also had some kind of weird fraternity-like symbol burned into it.
My parents did not beat me with boards, but they did not take any crap. Period.
Back in my high-school days, students could get swats from coaches, teachers, the principal or the dean of students. They usually got another one when they arrived home for being in trouble at school.
This could happen to anybody; it wasn’t reserved for just boys.
Questions abound in the Peterson case. Should he lose millions in endorsement dollars for carrying on a “family tradition?” That was how he was taught.
Should he lose his livelihood, his marriage and his parental rights and be banished from professional sports because of a private parental decision?
Finally, did this father really “hurt” the boy? Did he permanently damage him somehow? Or just teach him a lesson?
I mean, we ain’t talking about Ray Rice, the Baltimore Ravens running back who punched his then-fiancé and knocked her unconscious in March.
How much is too much when it comes to disciplining a child? Shouldn’t parents be able to decide?
Life is tough. Spank me if I need it.