Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Whoa America, black parents are not beating the hell out of their kids!

In light of the Adrian Peterson media frenzy I need to put this out there. BLACK PEOPLE ARE NOT RUNNING AROUND BEATING THE HELL OUT OF THEIR KIDS!

If you have been watching TV in the last few days you may have heard Chris Carter, Charles Barkley, and others say that black parents beat their kids when it comes to discipline. Barkley went so far as to say that all black parents in his neighborhood would have been arrested today for what they did when he was growing up. Many black talking heads said that was how they were brought up. That leaves the impression that's how all black people discipline their kids and that children were constantly beaten every other day. Neither impression is true.

I like many children didn't get as many beatings as I think I did and normally I earned that rare ass whuppin. It should also be mentioned that normally being beaten was a last resort and usually only happened after a display of blatant disrespect or if mom or dad had to leave work to come to school because of some foolishness you got into. It also needs to be mentioned that a talk normally followed the beating (the talk during the beating doesn't count), a talk about why you shouldn't have done whatever it was you did. Our parents never enjoyed beating us but that was how they taught us a lesson. You can argue about whether it was the best way but it worked.

Here's an example. When I was about eight I stole another little boys bottle of YooHoo. I of course got caught and my mother had to come to school. She beat me when we got home and then when my father got off from work he beat me. (Although I'm not sure if was more mad at me stealing or having to hear more mother yelling the moment he walked in the house.). After that I have never even thought of stealing agian, Hell, I haven't had a YooHoo since.

Now it's 2014 and I have a child. My wife and I don't beat our child. I would like to think that I am more enlightened than my parents but then again I have a little girl and could never picture spanking her. My wife was a spoiled little brat as a child and was never spanked so she doesn't believe in it at all.

We and many other black parents now use different methods when it comes to discipline. Times change and black parents are right there with everyone else when it comes to discipline. Oh and one last thing. Beating your child is not a black thing.

George Cook AfricanAmericanReports.com

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