The propriety of corporal punishment is an issue that seems to come to light only when a child is severely injured or when a celebrity is arrested for overdoing it. Adrian Peterson is the celeb du jour, thus begins the renewed debate of culture and tradition vs. modern law and thinking.

Many of the baby boomer generation recall being spanked with paddles or kitchen implements that left marks on our derrières, both by parents at home and by teachers at school. I was a recipient from both and, though not appreciative of either, would consider myself mostly deserving.

When I became a police detective investigating child abuse, I was surprised that some of the cases I investigated with Hennepin County Child Protection were incidents of corporal punishment similar to what I'd received as a child, but which now resulted in findings of maltreatment and charges of malicious punishment of a child. After working child-abuse cases for a while, I noticed that different cultures tended to use different forms of corporal punishment. Generally speaking, white parents tended to spank with hands, paddles and kitchen implements, while black parents tended to use switches — thin, supple tree branches — or extension cords. The discipline handed out with switches and extension cords was referred to as a "whoopin' " by the parent delivering it.

Any of the above methods could result in abuse, which was usually defined as physical punishment that left marks — abrasions, cuts or bruises. Red marks left by any type of spanking did not qualify as abuse if the marks disappeared shortly after the spanking. It was not necessarily illegal to use any of these methods of discipline if the punishment left no marks. Of course, common sense tells us that any of these punishments delivered even marginally robustly will leave marks. It would be difficult to whip a child with a switch and not leave discernible marks.

The tradition of "laying on a serious whoopin' " to a child has lost its propriety and popularity over the years. The thought of a teacher standing behind a child and delivering a forceful "swat" with a thick wooden paddle, custom-made by the wood shop teacher, is considered abhorrent at present, but at my junior high it was perfectly acceptable and quite common. Teachers nowadays know they would be jailed and fired for performing such an act — which would undoubtedly make the national news. We know that there are better ways to deal with mischievous students.

Education and research has resulted in changes to nearly every aspect of our lives, from medicine and prenatal care, to a better understanding of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism. What we have learned about corporal punishment is that there are better methods of discipline than physical punishment. Maybe it shouldn't have taken this long to figure it out, but while spanking may still have its place with some children, there are more effective methods that result in changing a child's behavior without the application of physical pain.

As parents, we are responsible for knowing how to teach, nurture and discipline our children to help them develop safely into good citizens. And, though we tend to emulate our parents, falling back on an obsolete, draconian tradition that has been proven to be emotionally and physically abusive does not qualify as a legitimate excuse. Just like mental-heath professionals who no longer believe that a frontal lobotomy is an appropriate method for handling mental illness, we know that there are better forms of discipline than what often amounts to the physical abuse of our children.

Richard Greelis, of Bloomington, is a retired law enforcement officer, teacher and author.