Dr Phil--Real life gossip girls

Did anyone else watch the Dr Phil episode today (Monday) about "Real Life Gossip Girls"? I am shocked and disgusted. What is going on with these kids? An even more important question is where are the parents of these children and what the heck are they thinking?

The first story in the episode is what really bothers me the most. It is about a group of 13-14 year old cheerleaders. They had a slumber party and when one of the girls was in the shower, one girl went to the front of the shower curtain to distract the girl while another girl went to the back end of the curtain and took a picture of this child with a cell phone. They then went and sent the picture to a boy on the football team. Of course, as children do the boy forwarded the picture on and it was sent to many children at the school.

Originally the 2 girls responsible for this vile act were suspended for 3 days. Under the rules of the cheer squad they were then removed from the team for being suspended. The parents didn't even seem to realize that their children had actually been responsible for making and trafficking child porn. Much less the damage that they had done to this other little girl. They actually began a fight for their childrens right to remain on the cheer squad. What in the blazes were they thinking?

How would they have felt if the nude picture had been taken of their child and then sent out? How can they fight for their childrens right to remain on the team when their child violated the rights of this little girl in such a vile manner?

In my opinion, children who are on teams, etc., at school are to be held up to a certain standard. That is why there are rules such as being removed from the team if you are suspended. The other children in the school look up to kids on the football team, the cheer squad, etc. If they do something seriously wrong then they need to be held accountable for it, just as any student would be, and be punished for it.

One (lame) argument used, by the offending childrens parents, is that the actions (the picture taking and sending) were not done on school grounds or during school hours. Well, often students do things outside of school and its hours of operation. This should not be an excuse for non-punishment. If a student is 10 feet away from the school 10 minutes after school is out and begins beating another child does that mean that the school shouldn't descipline the child? I think not!

Even if the school didn't think it should be responsible for dispcipline, then the PARENTS still need to discipline these children! By fighting for their childrens rights rather than punishing them, the parents are telling these kids that it is okay to take nude pictures of children (or whatever the problem may be) and sending out child pornography! Not only do I find the actions of these girls vile and disgusting, I find the parents (of the girls responsible) vile, disgusting and irresponsible.

So what would I have done if one of my children had done something as vile as this? I would have taken her/him off the cheer squad myself! They would have had their cell phone taken away. They would have been grounded for at least 3 months. That means no computer, no phone (not even the house phone), no nights out. They would have gone to school and come home. The most fun they would have had for 3 months was doing their homework and washing the dishes!

Severe? Yes! But that is how you deal with serious problems. And taking a nude picture of a child is definately a serious problem. The parents of those vile little girls are going to find an even bigger problem on their hands as these girls grow up and think that the world owes them something and they think that they are not going to be held responsible for their actions. They are going to grow up to be the type of girls that people look at and think "Thank God that's not my child".

Whew!  I love having a place to vent my feelings and opinions.  LOL

Jill Marie

Tags: Dr Phil, gossip, girls, naked cheerleader picture, irresponsible parents, bad behavior, vile teens