Discipline vs Abuse

There has been a lot of talk recently about child abuse and child discipline in light of a certain football player who beat his child.  And this is a topic I just couldn't stay quiet about.  First off, let me reiterate the facts first.  What Peterson did to not one, but two of his sons, was beat them.  That is not discipline.  That is not correcting their behavior.  When you break the skin on your child, that is abuse and should be treated as such.

What happened to those two little boys is horrifying.  They had defensive wounds on their hands. And the absolute worst part of this whole thing is that Peterson hasn't denied it, He says that he didn't want to have to discipline his kids, but they brought it on themselves. They were four years old!!  Do four year olds need to be disciplined?  Absolutely.  Do they need to be beaten? hit? Nope, not at all.

Now, while there are some people standing up for Peterson's actions, most people are just as disgusted as I am.  But sadly we differ on a few key points.  I have seen a lot of people say that the fact that he broke the skin on his child's body was wrong, but that he beat him with a switch is understandable.  I have heard plenty of people say that they were physically disciplined as a kid, and so it's fine to do it to their own children.

Hold up a second.  It's 2014.  We live in America.  People still hit their kids?!?  Their kids.  Those tiny little miracles that depend on you for everything.  People hit them with their hands, and other objects, and it's acceptable?!?   Call me naïve, call me ignorant, but when this story first came out I had to ask my husband what a switch was...because I'd never heard of one.  Why?  Because I was never once hit as a kid, nor would I ever lay a hand on my kids.

I believe strongly in disciplining children.  I think they need consequences and guidance on how to act.  My girls are being raised in a pretty strict household, as were my sisters and I.  And none of us were ever smacked, or spanked.  No one will ever lay a hands on my girls.  There are so many better ways to discipline. 

I believe any time someone hits, smacks, spanks, etc. a child it is abuse.  Every single time.  There is no reason for it, and this is something that should no longer go on behind closed doors.  This is not a private matter of something you do in your own home.  You are abusing your child. 

Don't tell me it's fine because it's accepted in your area of the country.
Don't tell me you were hit and you turned out fine {you obviously didn't if you hit your kids}
Don't tell me it's okay if it doesn't break the skin {I'm pretty sure Ray Rice's wife didn't have any open wounds on her face...is it okay what he did to her?}
Don't tell me the kid won't remember it, because they absolutely will.
Don't tell me nothing else will work if you don't hit them, because if you were disciplining them from the time they were little, they would never need a smack. 

I really don't like the comedian Louis CK, but I saw this on Pinterest and it really sums up all of this:

He's right.  How is it okay to hit our kids?  We teach them not to hit their friends...we teach little boys not to hit girls...we teach them not to hit the family pet.  But we turn around and hit them?  And that's acceptable?!

Well it needs to stop....now. I hope that this Peterson scandal opens up discussions across the country.  I hope laws become stricter and punishments harder for people who hit their kids.  I hope people take a moment and look into their children's and think about the irreparable damage they are doing to them.  I hope we stand up as a country and say this won't go on anymore.   Hitting a kid is not teaching them right from wrong.  It is abuse, period.