I'm sorry. There's no other way to say it.
Peterson has been charged with child abuse. It's alleged he whipped his four year old son with a stick until the child bled. Four years old. What could have a four year old have done to deserve that? He bled.
What makes it worse is Peterson has admitted to and is defending his behavior.
Sickening.
Okay, I will admit that a lot of kids could benefit from a swat to the behind once in a while, but whipping a four year old until he bleeds is criminal behavior.
Once upon a time, there was a sadistic teacher at one of my elementary schools. He used to paddle kids, on the hand, with a thick and massive board. I saw it happen. It wasn't pleasant. The punishment was doled out in a public ritual of humiliation and tears. This teacher appeared to derive some pleasure out of it.
He wasn't my teacher, and he never got me, but after witnessing one of his sick rituals I vowed that if he ever tried that with me, I'd make a grab for that paddle and crease his skull with it.
It wasn't discipline. It was child abuse, and he should have been jailed for it. But, it was a different time, and no one really seemed to care. I did.
Watching this twisted individual inflict horrible punishment wasn't incentive for me to behave. It was incentive to make sure no child of mine was ever treated that way. I always said to myself that every teacher would get the same lecture from me. If my child misbehaves, put him in a room and call me. I'll deal with it. You are to never, ever lay a hand on him.
The point is moot. I never had kids.
Still, there's a lesson here. Stop the hitting.
