So, is anyone else feeling anxious about the children in the life of Minnesota Viking Adrian Peterson?
The man has not been tried for a crime of child abuse, and so judgment must be withheld until a verdict or confession is made. However, this writer is anxious and unsettled by what the news is reporting.
A man with two four-year-old sons by different mothers spends time with those children unsupervised. While in his care, both children receive bodily injuries that are evidenced by breaking of the skin. One is supported by photographs--a minimum of 16 switch marks on the child's skin. The other claims a scar on the face above the child's eye, which occurred when the four-year-old tried to resist the original punishment.
In both cases, text messages from Peterson affirm that he did cause the wounds while disciplining the children. In one case, he admitted via text that he struck the child in the testicles. In both cases, he claimed to feel bad about the injuries--and called the testicular injury an accident (presumably from loss of control), but he continued to stand by the firmness of his disciplinary choices.
Can we at least agree that the purpose of disciplining a child is to lovingly redirect or restore the child, and not to punish or inflict a wound or scar? Can we agree that before administering discipline, a parent must examine himself or herself to be careful not to overreact out of anger? These little ones are being shaped under our own hands. If we lash out in rage--and 16 or more lashes with an object can hardly be imagined as controlled action--what are we really teaching? How does one restore trust and love after something like that?
Withholding judgment is turning out to be hard. Pray the little ones get the support of knowledgeable adults who will speak for them. Pray for truth to be told.
The man has not been tried for a crime of child abuse, and so judgment must be withheld until a verdict or confession is made. However, this writer is anxious and unsettled by what the news is reporting.
A man with two four-year-old sons by different mothers spends time with those children unsupervised. While in his care, both children receive bodily injuries that are evidenced by breaking of the skin. One is supported by photographs--a minimum of 16 switch marks on the child's skin. The other claims a scar on the face above the child's eye, which occurred when the four-year-old tried to resist the original punishment.
In both cases, text messages from Peterson affirm that he did cause the wounds while disciplining the children. In one case, he admitted via text that he struck the child in the testicles. In both cases, he claimed to feel bad about the injuries--and called the testicular injury an accident (presumably from loss of control), but he continued to stand by the firmness of his disciplinary choices.
Can we at least agree that the purpose of disciplining a child is to lovingly redirect or restore the child, and not to punish or inflict a wound or scar? Can we agree that before administering discipline, a parent must examine himself or herself to be careful not to overreact out of anger? These little ones are being shaped under our own hands. If we lash out in rage--and 16 or more lashes with an object can hardly be imagined as controlled action--what are we really teaching? How does one restore trust and love after something like that?
Withholding judgment is turning out to be hard. Pray the little ones get the support of knowledgeable adults who will speak for them. Pray for truth to be told.
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