Quote From: fdering1935I think the subject of this show should have been Child Abuse, rather than Liars. I think it's outrageous that her father got away with beating that girl, and I hope Dr. Phil will speak out in the future about parents who beat their children and attempt to minimize the abuse by calling it "spanking."
Spanking consists of an occasional swat on the bottom, not hitting hard enough to leave marks or with the use of sticks, canes, etc.
During the first 14 years of my life my parents practiced "spanking" - which consisted of literally beating my borthers and I bloody with switches we had to choose from a tree in the yard. Both of my parents were very physical and whether they were hitting their children with a thin, whip-like switch, a bamboo rod or a two-by-four (broke an arm that time - we were instructed to say he "fell off of the roof,") they called it "spanking." My father catergorically denied what they did was anything more than "spanking" until they day he died and I won't have anything to do with my mother - good people don't hang out with people who beat children - two of whom were developmentally disabled. She has sown what she has reaped. She deserves all of the pain she experiences. That's what abusive parents deserve.
I watched the father in that episode carefully - and I can tell without a doubt in my mind that the young woman in the hot seat was not the only "liar" on the set. People who hit their children raise liars, cheats and sneaks. Hitting a child for "discipline" can lead your child grow up with the belief that violence is the way to get people to do what you want - children who are hit for discipline are more likely to grow up and force their partners to have sex - in other words - you hit your kid - you have a darned good chance of creating way more problems then you set out to solve and there are many, many, much better and far more effective way to handle discipline than hitting - hitting is just plain wrong - and it's LAZY.
There will be no healing in that family until the parents own their mistakes. It's clear that their daughter wants to be accepted and loved by them, painfully clear. But one mistake and they disowned her - no wonder she doesn't tell them everything - she gets shut out from HER OWN FAMILY...not very "Christian" more like "what will our friends and church think?"
Cutting off your own kid...it's hard to imagine - my own have pulled some boners but NEVER NEVER would I cut my kid off because they were dancing - what a great idea - it's not like the poor girl needed them or anything....pfffft. Where do these people come from anyway???
