Hot Sauce Punishment.. Child Abuse?

mentalfloss

mentalfloss

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Jun 28, 2010
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Alaska Woman Charged With Child Abuse After Appearing on 'Dr. Phil' Show


Video from the "Dr. Phil" television show of an Alaska mother forcing her son to drink hot sauce and take cold showers prompted a police investigation that has led to charges of child abuse against the mother.

Jessica Beagley, a 36-year-old mother of six, was charged with misdemeanor child abuse in an Anchorage, Alaska courtroom today. She was not present at the arraignment. Her attorneys entered a plea of not guilty.

A police investigation began after Beagley appeared with "Dr. Phil" McGraw in November of last year, according to court documents. The segment of the show was called "Mommy Confessions."
Beagley told Dr. Phil about her difficulty disciplining her 7-year-old son. Video showed her at home in Alaska with the boy.

"We've tried a lot of different things to punish the kids," she said on the show.

The mom admits to spanking her child and forcing him to do jumping jacks until he's exhausted. During the show, the boy is being punished for getting "three cards pulled," three infractions at school.

On camera, Beagley is seen pouring hot sauce down the boy's throat as punishment for lying. Beagley, leaning over the boy as he sits on the bathroom counter, says, "don't spit it."

The boy can be heard screaming when Beagley forces him to take a cold shower.

"When [he] gets a cold shower, I am at the end of my rope," Beagley said on the show. "Nothing's gotten the results that I want."

Hot Sauce Mom Jessica Beagley Charged With Child Abuse After 'Dr. Phil' Show - ABC News


'Hot Sauce Mom' Jessica Beagley, Seen on Dr. Phil, Convicted of Child Abuse; Faces Year in Prison - YouTube
 
mentalfloss

mentalfloss

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The ABC anchors also seemed a bit brain dead.

I'll be honest, I'm actually trying to see both sides of the story here.. but I personally would never punish my child like this.
 
C

Cliffy

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spaminator

spaminator

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the kid is lucky thats all the discipline he got. i remember being slaped in the face, whiped with a belt, and picked up off the ground by my hair.:(
 
CDNBear

CDNBear

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I can count on less than one hand, how many times I have hit both my boys combined... I got to cut my own switch.

When they were caught swearing, they got a mouth full of Frank's RedHot... I got a bar of Dial.

When the got way to rambunctious, I made them do push ups, sit ups, squats, "the chair of shame"... I chopped wood, or moved 50 full cords from one side of the yard to the other.

I call them sir, they return the respect... As was the way with my Grandfather.

What's abusive of about punishments that are uncomfortable?
 
petros

petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
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If mom put the hot sauce on nachos and said eat it all or else would that still be abuse?

I'm going to sue my mom for making me eat all of the liver and onions put on my plate.
 
SLM

SLM

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Mar 5, 2011
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Ok, well for starters, this didn't happen in the video.

"On camera, Beagley is seen pouring hot sauce down the boy's throat as punishment for lying." Not to quibble here but when I read that sentence prior to watching the video it evoked in my mind an entirely different image than what was actually in the video.

Now I did manage to raise two kids without much more than a slap on the fingers and groundings/time outs as punishments. I don't necessarily disagree with physical punishments (within reason of course), I just never used them myself. A dab of hot sauce on the tongue is not going to kill anyone. My brothers got that one for swearing. (I was smart enough never to swear within earshot of my mom)

What is far more likely to be damaging is inflicting any punishment out of anger and frustration, in my opinion. Punishment should be to correct the behaviour, not to inflict pain. Screaming at a child in anger is more damaging than calmly executed punishment, I think.

Now I'm not saying that she's doing this, I'm not saying she's not. There really isn't enough information to judge whether she's truly at the end of her rope and in need of help. There also isn't a lot of information provided to determine whether or not the child really has excessive behavioural issues. But it is rather telling that Child Protective Services did not find the home to be an abusive environment.

Now filming yourself and your child for national broadcast on Dr Phil, that's abusive.

Kidding about that last part. Sort of. ;)
 
Kreskin

Kreskin

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Feb 23, 2006
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The problem is she has no parenting skills. Her punishment should be mandatory parenting education.
 
WLDB

WLDB

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Jun 24, 2011
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CDNBear said:
Hot sauce and a cold shower isn't assault.

It's common practice in both juvenile and adult penal facilities.
Click to expand...

They administer hot sauce to prisoners for punishment? Really?

This child is not a criminal. Prisoners lose rights when they commit a crime. This child hasnt and shouldn't be subjected to the treatment of criminals.

To put hot sauce in the kids mouth she'd have to use physical force to do it, and to keep the kid in the shower. That would be assault. Apparently the court agreed at the very least that it was illegal in some respect.
 
shadowshiv

shadowshiv

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May 29, 2007
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I seem to recall that Castor Oil was used for punishment in times past. Hot sauce or Castor Oil? I think I would choose the hot sauce.8O
 
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