I guess they have finally pushed me to the edge with the Adrian Peterson ongoing stories of child abuse. Below is my opinion piece for the Dallas Morning News which makes my points. It is getting ridiculous anymore and I am shocked and dismayed by the league's impotence on these issues.
Four children will die. They will die today, like they did yesterday and like they will tomorrow.
The children are not dying of cancer or heart disease; they are dying at the hands of loved ones who are abusing them. You guessed it. I am talking about the Adrian Peterson abuse situation.
Adrian Peterson tells us he is just raising his children like his parents raised him. Wrong. He isn’t raising children at all. He tells us he is just disciplining his kids. He isn’t.
Study after study tells us he is slowing the cognitive development of his own children. That’s right. Peterson is increasing the likelihood of anxiety, depression and antisocial behavior. Another worrying statistic: Children who get “whooped” — Peterson’s description — are nine times more likely to become involved in criminal activity.
Adrian Peterson said he hit his child with a tree branch “10 to 15” times. However, he said, he doesn’t “ever count how many pops I give my kids.” Look at his son’s leg. It has at least that many marks where the switch caught his thigh. Use your senses and let’s consider this 4-year-old — a 4-year-old who was beaten by a man who is 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds.
The police report notes defensive wounds to the hands. I wonder how able this child was to defend himself against a guy who rushes through 300-pound giants.
I won’t attack the game, but we need to realize that if the players cannot control their impulses at home, they need to find a new line of work. I hate to interrupt this young man’s ability to carry a ball down the field just to save the life of his child, but let’s consider his child for a second.
Take a look at the pictures of his child. If you can stomach it, take a look. Take a second and let the images sink in. Now, what would you do if you sent your child to a friend’s house and he came back with those injuries? Would it be acceptable for your neighbor to “whoop” your child like that if he got out of line? Peterson did that to his own son.
Listen to his son. He didn’t want to talk to the police because he was “afraid of Daddy Peterson.” Forget the statistics for a moment about learning difficulties. Forget about long- term psychological issues. This child is afraid of his own father.
Yes, I am silly enough to think the National Football League should clean up its act. They should suspend Mr. Peterson for a year and make him complete a parenting program. Yes, I am silly enough to think that the NFL should keep this man from his profession.
Of course, for now, things appear headed in the opposite direction for Peterson. The Minnesota Vikings reinstated him on Monday, a day after they lost 30-7 to the New England Patriots without their star back.
“I understand that this is a very difficult thing to handle,” said Rick Spielman, the general manager. “Whether it’s an abusive situation or not, or whether he went too far disciplining, we feel very strongly that that is the court’s decision to make.”
Right now, the league is lost. It’s lost like a child afraid of his or her own parent, and that should scare every fan and every family.
Maybe we should stop playing games until we learn how to deal with abuse.
Four children will die today, just as four died yesterday. Let’s make it the last day.
As always, I look forward to thoughtful comments and I hope I am not offending.
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