The "fine line" between discipline and abuse

When I first learned of the charge facing Adrian Peterson, my first concern was for child involved, but I was worried too about the reaction we might get from those who choose to use corporal punishment on their own children. I rub shoulders with many who believe “the liberal media” or “society today” is on a quest to outlaw their way of life. I stayed away from the story afraid I would lose my temper with someone over someone over all of this. I’m tired of the “everyone is out to get us” mentality. I’d prefer we talk about the issue itself - a child who appears to have been beaten - not disciplined, not spanked, beaten! Today, during a Sunday interview with Jim Rome, Charles Barkley ( a notorious big mouth who I have defended many times in the past ), said this …

every black parent in the south is going to be in jail -Charles Barkley NFL Today with Jim Rome

Setting aside the liberties Mr. Barkley is taking when he speaks for an entire class of people, this one comment is so off-the-wall, so irrelevant, so beside the point, that I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Like my mom always said, it doesn’t matter if everyone else is doing it. Fortunately, Jim Rome focused the interview on the actual issue at hand - the child that had been beaten. I know there are some who won’t respect my opinion on the matter after I “admit” this, but I have spanked my children, but what I did with my children was very far from what Peterson allegedly did. I don’t want to get into details, but I can tell you that we discussed this issue at length before our children were born, and we were very careful and calculating about using spanking without inflicting physical OR emotional abuse. We have two very strong willed children. Teaching them obedience without crushing that will and without training them to do everything any adult tells them to do ( something we definitely don’t want ) was not an easy thing to do. And I’m not completely sure we succeeded. When our children were young, we did what we thought was best. If we were to start over now, we might do it differently, but we might not. Like most parents, I know I did some things wrong, and like most, I wonder sometimes what things I should have done differently, and I have regrets. But I am confident we did not abuse our children. Parenting is a tough job. There is a fine line, in my opinion, between corporal punishment and abuse, and I think many parents cross that line. While it is not my place to police other parents, I think it is important to speak up when children are being hurt.
I agree with Jim Rome on this one …

That was child abuse. There’s no fine line here.