If Peterson beat his 4 year old like they are saying, he's done for in the NFL.
As he should be! No excuse EVER for beating a 4 year old! A simple swat on the butt would most likely suffice at that age.
My old mean Granny, who's 95 now, used to switch me every day in the summer, when I was a kid. I'm sure I deserved a lot of it. Never left any marks, though.
That is a big "IF", because the true nature of what he did, and why, is not generally known, and the "they" who are saying whatever are news types trying to make a sensational story.
In my youth, a "beating" was very different from a "spanking" or "switching", the latter of which I got plenty when I deserved it due to misbehavior or improper expression. And, yes, from switching or belting (Dad kept a cat-o-nine tails hanging by the back door) I sometimes had marks on my fanny or thighs.
I did not like it then, but today know that it was correct and would not have had it any other way. I simply wish my dear Dad were still here to give me a switching if appropriate.
One thing is for certain, in those times there were no CPS or any such government agency to interfere with normal parenting and needed discipline/punishment for kids. Adrian Peterson may have gone overboard with the whipping - maybe not - but the tirade about corporal punishment for kids is just another undermining activity. At times, I would like to be able to use my Dad's strap on a few of those newspeople and sports pundits.
