Alaska Mom’s idea of punishment disapproved nationwide

After watching videos of Jessica Beagley of Anchorage, Alaska screaming at her adopted son and punishing him with hot sauce and a cold shower after getting in trouble at school, I was mortified.  Before her rise to “fame,” Beagley emailed the Dr. Phil show in an effort to create a segment called “Angry Moms,” later sending him a disturbing video of her son screaming at her extreme disciplinary tactics.  Her eight-minute video of torture landed her a spot on “Dr. Phil” and then straight into court.  What disturbs me is the fact that Beagley felt “out of control” when attempting to appropriately punish her son.

When the segment aired on Dr. Phil, I watched the disturbing video as this angry mother forced the boy to hold hot sauce in his mouth for a minute and later put him in a freezing cold shower.  An Anchorage jury decided that Beagley’s poor parenting was a crime, counting it as child abuse.  I was pleased to find out that Beagley may face up to a year in prison and a $10,000 fine.  This so-called “hot sauce mom” has one of the worst parenting ethics I’ve ever seen.

Thanks to this Alaska mom, legal arguments have drawn media attention to Russia, where Beagley adopted twins in 2008.  The problem is, she is proud of the way she disciplines her son.  She admitted that she does this hot sauce routine often.  She then has her daughter videotape her tactics in order to raise media attention.  I’m angry that she was given a child to take care of and unfortunately, she defends herself for what she did, saying she has the right as a mother to inflict pain on her children.  The boy was obviously suffering and terrified throughout the video.  She even admitted to spanking her child and forcing him to do jumping jacks!  Is there any way that this stressed out mother can learn to control her temper and her actions?   There are appropriate ways to discipline a child, these are not them.