Beating children is not about love...it's child abuse, plain and simple

Given my own childhood experience, I’ll freely admit the issue of using violence to discipline children is a raw one for me. I find it difficult to be objective…but we’re talking about the well-being of children, which isn’t something I can choose be objective about. Bottom line: if you hit children “out of love” in an effort to discipline them, you’re a child abuser. If that means I lack objectivity, so be it. I don’t care to be objective when it comes to child abuse…and I’m pretty OK with that.

The idea that it’s acceptable to strike a child in order to teach them a lesson is beyond repulsive. Teaching a child to fear you isn’t a “loving gesture.” “Spare the rod, spoil the child” is a parenting philosophy in the same way Jeffrey Dahmer believed killing and eating people to be a legitimate dietary choice. It’s the refuge of cowards too lazy or unsophisticated to do the truly hard work of parenting- TEACHING children right from wrong, appropriate from inappropriate. It’s the go-to option for parents looking for a quick and easy fix. Bottom line: it has nothing to do with love. It’s about fear…and since when is that a good thing to teach a child?

Even more repulsive is the idea that it’s permissible to beat a children because you were “raised that way.” You were beaten, so that makes it acceptable to pass it down to your children? Violence solves nothing…unless your goal is to teach your child to fear (and in some cases, hate) you. Violence is a lazy, ineffective, and psychologically damaging means of behavior modification, yet it seems to be the default for so many even today. Calling it “corporal punishment” merely adds a veneer of legitimacy, as if hitting a child is a reasonable and acceptable disciplinary tool. If you strike a child thinking that you’re disciplining them, that’s child abuse.

There’s no reason or acceptable means for physically disciplining a child. Whether you believe that you’re doing it “out of love,” or that it’s OK because you were “raised that way,” the fact is that beating a child is to abuse that child. Period. End of story. There’s no acceptable explanation- zero, zip, none- for striking a child. If you can’t find alternative means of discipline, if you can’t talk to your child and reason with them, you have no business being a parent. There’s no credible way to link love with violence.

Children are not possessions. They’re not like pets with two legs. They’re living, breathing human beings. They have the right to grow up without living in fear of a parent. They deserve to be treated as the fragile, breakable beings they are. I’m hear to tell you from my own experience that violence against children is a recipe for disaster. If you want to teach your child that violence is an acceptable means of discipline and behavior, if you want to teach them that fear and love are closely equated, then YOU’RE the problem. If you defend a child abuser thinking that striking a child is about showing love, you’re also part of the problem.

You should be ashamed of yourself.

If you want to hit someone, at least do the courageous thing and find someone your own size. Bullies pick on those unable to fight back and defend themselves. Bullying and parenting should be at opposite ends of the spectrum. If hitting a child makes you feel like a parent, please do the world a favor and put your children up for adoption. The last thing this world needs is another child learning that violence is an acceptable means for achieving a desired result. Creating fear may seem an effective behavior modification method, but it’s not about love or discipline. If you can’t see that distinction, you don’t deserve to enjoy the privilege of being a parent.

All Adrian Peterson’s mother has done is to reveal herself to be part of the problem. Nice work, eh?