The arrest of a once-popular video blogger who advocated tough-love parenting and her business associate in southwestern Utah has revitalized conversations about when discipline becomes child abuse or neglect, writes family policy reporter Lois Collins.
Ruby Franke vlogged on her “8 Passengers” YouTube channel and enjoyed 2.5 million followers at one time, though her ideas on parenting increasingly drew criticism as being harsh and the channel disappeared for unknown reasons earlier this year, as the Deseret News reported. Her associate, Jodi Hildebrandt, licensed as a clinical mental health expert, was also arrested. The two have been charged with six counts of aggravated child abuse. They remain in custody without bail.
Both were arrested after Franke’s 12-year-old went to the home of one of Hildebrandt’s neighbors in what police described as a malnourished condition, asking for food and water.
Where is the line between discipline and abuse and how does one know when the line has been crossed? The Deseret News turned to research and interviewed experts.
They were not asked to comment on the Franke and Hildebrandt cases, but rather to address questions of where the line lies between teaching a child to behave and methods that could be abuse or neglect.
“Discipline means ‘to teach.’ Harsh methods of discipline, whether physical acts of commission or omission like withholding food, really send a wrong message to children on how to correct behavior as they are developing and learning right from wrong,” said Dr. Allison M. Jackson, division chief of the Child & Adolescent Protection Center and a professor at Children’s National Hospital.