Dr. Phil: Inconsistent Parenting Leads To Poorly Behaved Teenagers

Dr. Phil: Inconsistent Parenting Is The Real Problem

Dr. Phil doesn’t think that Levi and Bob’s out-of-control teenager could be any more messed up if they had designed her in a test tube in a lab and created her using weird science. The problem is that their inconsistent parenting and punishments have set a bad example for their daughter Tiffani, whose violent outbursts border on the bipolar. With them not reacting when Tiffani is out of control, Tiffani now acts nearly free of any constraint whatsoever. This has festered to the point where they are now rightly in fear of their lives.

Dr. Phil: Kids Think They Can Do Whatever They Want

Dr. Phil didn’t know what the other counselors Bob and Levi claimed to have gone to told them, but he doesn’t think their inconsistent parenting is the right thing to do at all. Levi and Bob insist that they are trying their hardest and doing the right thing, though. Levi says that they do react, taking away items and privileges when she is acting up and grounding her in some cases. Bob said, however, that it is nearly impossible to punish Tiffani because she just doesn’t listen to them, and even taunts them into punishing her and taking things away. There have even been the numerous times that they called the police.

Dr. Phil: Correcting Inconsistent Parenting

With all of this defensive behavior, Dr. Phil wondered if Levi and Bob were there to defend their parenting or to improve it, to which they answered that they wanted to get her some help. Dr. Phil said that it wasn’t just Tiffani that needed help, but that the entire family needed help. “If you’re so right, why is your daughter so wrong?” Dr. Phil asked of the Levi and Bob, now on the defensive. With her spitting in their faces, beating them up, and knocking them on the ground, it is clear that, though they claim to know what their parenting is lacking, they don’t actually know what it is they’re doing wrong, or aren’t acknowledging it.