When talking about punishing children, every parent has their own idea of what the right plan is. Some parents spank their children, others ground them or put them in time out. Other common tactics include biting on a bar of soap, picking up extra chores, and going to bed early. But what about other tactics? In Alaska, one parent punished her children with hot sauce and cold showers. The ABA Journal reports that footage of mother, Jessica Beagley, was captured of her requiring the child to hold hot sauce in his mouth and take a cold shower for lying. The footage evoked strong reactions from the on-set and television audience of the Dr. Phil show which aired on CBS in November. Was her form of punishment too extreme? Should it be considered abuse? Some commenters have defended her, saying that she was trying to help the child and had not exceeded the boundaries of what they considered acceptable discipline. What do you think?
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Not only do I disagree with the method of punishment this mother chose, but I think that using corporal punishment to discipline children is counterproductive and leads to unintended consequences.
I realize that sitting a child down and using words to explain to him/her what it is that they did wrong is frustrating. It is so much easier to spank the child. Yet, there is no guarantee that the child will even understand why she/he is being spanked. Furthermore, the child may start to view physical violence as the only way to resolve conflicts or to express his/her feelings.