http://www.tmz.com/2014/09/12/adrian-peterson-indicted-for-child-abuse/
Looks bad, given that the pics are several days after...
/johnny
Looked at the pics. I agree. It was overdone.
Should it be criminal? No.
Definitely should lead to parenting intervention by social services.
a 4 year old? I disciplined my children too but I never left marks on them. Spanking with the hand, a switch, a wooden spoon. Never used a belt as I felt it was too severe. Especially a 4 year old. Yeah, that’s abuse.
As a boy, I used to get severe beatings from my mother with a switch. She would beat me until she was physically unable to go further. Those pictures are NOT from a controlled switching, they are from an out of control person.
The punishment administered to my son (due to my experiences) was a measured paddling with no more than 3 licks. As a child he only received on paddling consisting of 3 whacks. Most were a single whack and very few, 2.
I made it a point NEVER to punish him when I was extremely mad and before each punishment he was made to understand exactly why the punishment was applied.
He was generally a very behaved son and few punishments were administered. He also learned that bad behavior met with physical pain. In essence he learned if you break the law you get an unpleasant experience.
Later in life the same thing applies (unless you are a minority) that punishment will surely follow a violation of the law.
A spanking is one thing, a beating with a switch is a vicious act that is meant to harm and in many cases bring blood and leave scars. It is flat out wrong.