Jackson Free Press

"Adrian Peterson was right to spank, wrong to break the skin."

—American Family Association spokesman Bryan Fischer on the controversy around corporal punishment.

Why It Stinks: Corporal punishment in parenting has entered into mainstream conversation among political pundits after the Minnesota Vikings deactivated and then reinstated running back Adrian Peterson amid child-abuse charges. But for Fischer, Peterson's problem isn't that he hit his child, it's that he left a mark. The costs and benefits of corporal punishment are an important topic for discussion. What Fischer seems to be advocating is inflicting as much pain on children as possible as long as no one is able to tell, which could lead to emotional scarring. And it's abuse. That should definitely be part of the conversation.