Two important things should be made very clear.
1- Beating anyone with a wooden stick is wrong. That is considered a weapon.
2- Beating high school athletes is different from beating a 4-year-old child.
I understand that Peterson and others think there isn’t anything wrong with this, but they are looking at it through tunnel vision. They are only seeing the kids and teenagers who made it through it to be successful, they aren’t seeing the millions of kids who have scars (not just physical, but mental) from years of child abuse. For every one Adrian Peterson, there are 100s who didn’t see it as “tough love”.
Maybe, if they spoke to some of those kids who are now adults they wouldn’t have such a relaxed attitude toward beating kids.
Here is what Peterson’s HS Coach had to say via Daily Mail.
Adrian Peterson’s high school football coach has revealed how he used to beat the star player when he misbehaved – and claimed he was thanked by him afterwards.
Booker Bowie said that the Minnesota Vikings running back would get up to three lashes with an 18 inch long wooden paddle he kept in his office as part of what he called ‘tough love’.
Speaking from his home in Tyler, Texas, Bowie explained that he used to hit his students if they stepped out of line. He said that he talked to his students before he hit them and then explained afterwards why he did what he did.
He told MailOnline: ‘It wasn’t my intention to abuse the kids, the kids loved me for it. I wanted them to do right. They said: “Coach, thank you”.
I think if all the kids that Bowie ever hit were now able to speak as adults there would some who wouldn’t be thanking him for his abuse.