Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was recently indicted on charges of child abuse for hitting his son with a tree branch. Elizabeth Gershoff, a professor of human development and family sciences in the School of Human Ecology who has studied corporal punishment for 15 years, was interviewed -- and her research referenced -- extensively in the media to provide context for the Peterson story from September 16 to 25.
Here's a sample:
All Things Considered, NPR: http://www.npr.org/2014/09/15/348765106/like-adrian-peterson-majority-of-u-s-parents-use-physical-discipline
CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/16/living/spanking-cultural-roots-attitudes-parents/
Chicago Tribune: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/page/ct-clarence-page-parents-whip-too-much-oped-0917-20140916-column.html
Houston Chronicle (Gershoff op-ed): http://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/Rethinking-the-use-of-spanking-5773104.php
Houston Chronicle: http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Peterson-cases-lays-bare-nation-s-tangled-views-5768040.php
Boston Globe: http://bit.ly/1qD9PNM
Code Switch (Blog), NPR: http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2014/09/19/349668828/a-decision-about-your-children-thats-also-about-your-parents
Christian Science Monitor (Oct. 19): http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2014/1019/To-spank-or-not-to-spank-Corporal-punishment-in-the-US
Comments 1
There was an incident not too long ago in Springtown Texas that made the news. The mothers of two high school girls complained that their daughters were paddled by a male principle which was in violation of the school's own same gender paddling policy. The thing that really shocked me was that one of them had a male police officer as a witness. This principle must really be trying to humiliate these girls as much as possible. He could have chosen a female staff member to minimize the emotional damage but chose a male policeman instead. Involving the police in this is really crossing the line. Using a policeman as a witness could end up making female students distrusting of the police or give them a negative attitude toward law enforcement later on in their lives.