To date Ive been pretty quiet about the Adrian Peterson case. It raises a lot of questions with very few answers. First let me say the pictures are disturbing, and damning. It looks excessive so investigation is definitely necessary. Im worried by what a 4 year old couldve done to warrant such a punishment in his fathers mind. Its our job as a society to protect kids from abuse. He should be held out of football activities until the matter is resolved. All this said Im reluctant to ever tell a parent how to raise their child. How people raise their kids is a very complex issue. Religion, background, heritage, geographical location all play a role in choices made. Ive spent a lot time around kids the last 17 years. Most of which werent my own. My wife was a child care provider and daycare teacher. I was a volunteer. (How we met) As Mike Valverde pointed out on twitter: Gone are the days of the stay home parent, as children grow up knowing their care provider better than their own Mom and Dad. Hes 100% right. Sadly, I know this first hand because my wife and I through daycare, youth coaching, and volunteering shared more time with many kids than their own parents. We live in a society where a growing number of kids grow up without parental guidance or personal responsibility. All kids are different. Unfortunately none of them come with an owners manual. It made such a substantial impact on us we changed our priorities when we had our kids. For those early years I traded the nomadic on call life of an actor for more stable consistent work. It left a gap in my resume but filled my heart. Yet despite my best efforts I make a lot mistakes. (Man, I wish they came with a manual!) All parents make mistakes though. I hope people remember actions taken can never be undone. Also psychological and verbal abuse are equally as dangerous and damaging as physical abuse. As a parent, I tell my kids their job, like mine, is to try and do better than their parents did. Both my kids are avid sports lovers who fancy themselves athletes. We talk a lot about these cases because they provide honest, hard, impactful life lessons. I consistently take a very hard stance initially. Ive been outspoken about Ray Rice. That said I hope he changes, learns from his mistakes and eventually gets a second chance if he demonstrates contrition, change and social awareness. I do however as a public figure hold those of us who have greater exposure to high accountability. Professional sports leagues get tax exemptions for being part of the public trust, subsequently theyre beholden to adhere to a higher moral standard. My policy in abuse cases (also PEDs as well): First offense is a one year bad. Forfeiting your contract to be donated to an appropriate associated charity. Second offense ban for life. The remainder of the contract to be paid by the team to an appropriate associated charity. Punish the offenders but also hold the owners who enable them accountable. Its not a right to play professional sports, act or create music. Public people invest in you its time we expected them to invest back.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 21:33:31 +0000