Public Opinion Says Punishing Kids With Hot Sauce Is Child Abuse [INFOGRAPHIC]

by SodaHead Infographics Posted 2011/08/25 22:00:00

Related Topics: Public Opinion, Infographic, SodaHead Infographic, Deep Dive, Hot Sauce, Mother, Hot Sauce Mom, Infographics, SodaHead Infographics, parents, Child Abuse, Jessica Beagley, Dr. Phil, Moms, Dads, ABC News, School, Mom

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Earlier this week we showed SodaHeads a video clip of Jessica Beagley, a 36-year-old Anchorage woman, forcing her 8-year-old child to keep hot sauce in his mouth and take cold showers as punishment for behavioral problems at school.

The video is from a November episode of "Dr. Phil," so you may have seen it before, but Beagley was just recently charged with misdemeanor child abuse because of her actions.

Here's an except from the original "Hot Sauce Mom" story:

She could get up to a year in prison along with her $10,000 fine, and The Anchorage Daily News reports it only took the jury one day to decide she was guilty.

Henry Paul, a Mount Sinai psychiatrist, told ABC News, "The stun -- the shock -- the acute anxiety can also lead to [a] long-term type of post-traumatic stress disorder that we often see in criminals who are incarcerated.

Most SodaHeads thought the hot sauce treatment was way out of line, but there are always dissenters. So it's time to take a deeper look into the demographics behind our results and see who they were.

Let's dive.

incarcerated sodaheads hot sauce treatment line dissenters deeper demographics dive

incarcerated sodaheads hot sauce treatment line dissenters deeper demographics dive

+35

harley oldman 2011/08/25 22:49:16

+28
Where I was raised ( South Louisiana) they punished Kids by taking the Hot Sauce away from them.
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Amber Fredrick 2013/01/02 17:08:35

When my 4 year old was purposely peeing on his carpet after throwing a tantrum, I was completely at my wits end. He wouldn't listen and thought he could get his way. I talked to my elders and I gave him a cold shower once (very quick one) and he never did it again. Now we laugh about it after the fact. Also, one time when he was 6 he said a swear word at school and I put a drop of tapatio (hot sauce) on his lip and he never swore again. Both of these were remedies that came down from my husband's Hispanic side. They worked in his family and work in mine. I refuse to beat my child nor punish them out of anger. I believe it is the parent's right to discipline their child in whatever way they see fit. It's no one else's business unless the kid is actually being abused. Correcting bad behavior is not abuse. This varies by opinion but the bottom line is, worry about yourself and your own kids. CPS will not take a child away for these reasons. They take children away when they have no place to sleep, no access to food and water, no where to bathe. My kids are happy and healthy, and I get compliments on their good behavior all the time and it's because I'm proactive with discipline and watch what they do. If we let our kids act out and not show and enforce authority, we are creating a much bigger problem for our educators. Don't send your bad kid to school if you refuse to correct their behavior.

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Tallulah 2012/07/21 01:32:41

Hahaha I wish I would get punished in hot sauce...but for little kids? That's cruel.

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Amber F... to Tallulah 2013/01/02 17:10:38

How is it any different than putting soap in their mouth? At least hot sauce isn't toxic.

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Rebellion 2012/07/12 11:31:33

It's totally ridiculous. Ok give to him hot sauce. What will the child learn from that? Punishment should be something more to teach the child a lesson. Like if he got an F, no video games or television for one week. But now seriously, hot sauce?

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Amber F... to Rebellion 2013/01/02 17:13:23 (edited)

It's fitting for a child who used a swear word to get a drop (not several) in their mouth because the swear word came from their mouth. Just with any punishment, they will associate the result with the action and avoid doing it in the future for fear of being punished again. "If I swear, mom will put that spicy stuff on my tongue again, I didn't like that" Would you suggest toxic soap? Or how about a slap to the face that could easily go too far out of anger? Grounding a kid or taking away privileges is not effective.

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Lauren.livelovelaugh. 2012/07/03 14:56:11

+3
It is abuse, no child deserves to be physically disciplined no matter what they did wrong, its like if someone walked up to you in the street and said something rude to you and you hit them then police would call that abuse, its the samewith children no physical action should be take out on children including using hot sauce.

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Amber F... to Lauren.... 2013/01/02 17:18:04

Wow, seriously? Hitting a stranger is completely different than rearing your children. The Bible even encourages discipline. See that's the problem with privileged kids these days, they back talk while they play their $200 3DS and stuff their faces with candy while they get their butt wiped until they are 10. Discipline out of love is a very important part of parenting. If you don't discipline you are basically sending your bad kid to school for the teacher to deal with. Physically spanking is risky because if you are angry you can go too far, but other methods like hot sauce or cold showers... I think most will agree they would pick that over a woopin any day, It's not like the parents held their mouth open and drenched them in hot sauce... Come on. Stop babying the generation. We need to bring up good, modest people here!

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Lana 2012/04/21 18:03:45

+1
This is absolutely child abuse and this women should never be placed in the charge of minor children ever again.

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MJ 2012/04/11 14:53:23

That's mean!

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POWERSHAKER 2012/04/11 06:01:19

+1
Hot sauce? They can't be serious. That's totally ridiculous.

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UltimateBlogger 2012/04/04 17:28:30

+3
Id whip there ass then put hand sanitizer on that spot

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kandykid 2012/02/27 02:40:44

+3
No its not its just giving them really hot stuff to get them to obay better lol

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niviongo R ☮ P ☮ 12-20 2011/12/19 03:20:15

Not in Mexico or South Louisiana.

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katt 2011/12/01 01:18:51

i don't know if i would go that direction because i never had to use that kind of discipline. i'm not saying i had perfect kids. in fact far from it. i also never understood time out. time out to me was something that gave the kid a chance to get a second breath and plan his next move of destruction. it may have worked for others but it didn't work for me. if i grounded them i punished myself. my way was this i relied on consistency from the start. if i said no it was for a reason and if there was nothing that changed that reason it was still no. from the time they were old enough to reach out and grab something they weren't supposed to i slapped my own hand close to theirs so that they related the sharp noise with dont touch. i didnt hit their hand because i didn't want them to relate being told no to pain. did i ever spank my kids? yes but on very few occasions and those occasions were if curiosity put them in a position where it could cost them their life and/or serious harm i wanted to make sure it never got repeated and because it didn't happen often they knew it was serious. most of the time they would have to listen to lectures that could go on and on sometimes for days. On some other serious issues i would have them do something that helped others in need so they could...

i don't know if i would go that direction because i never had to use that kind of discipline. i'm not saying i had perfect kids. in fact far from it. i also never understood time out. time out to me was something that gave the kid a chance to get a second breath and plan his next move of destruction. it may have worked for others but it didn't work for me. if i grounded them i punished myself. my way was this i relied on consistency from the start. if i said no it was for a reason and if there was nothing that changed that reason it was still no. from the time they were old enough to reach out and grab something they weren't supposed to i slapped my own hand close to theirs so that they related the sharp noise with dont touch. i didnt hit their hand because i didn't want them to relate being told no to pain. did i ever spank my kids? yes but on very few occasions and those occasions were if curiosity put them in a position where it could cost them their life and/or serious harm i wanted to make sure it never got repeated and because it didn't happen often they knew it was serious. most of the time they would have to listen to lectures that could go on and on sometimes for days. On some other serious issues i would have them do something that helped others in need so they could get a better understanding of the world around them. how did they turn out? not perfect that is for sure and it was a rocky road which came from a bad marriage with their father but my daughter is married with 4 personality+ children and will be buying her first house this coming year. she is a great mother too. my son is a certified welder and will be a certified mechanic shortly. my baby is opening his own hair salon in march. so hot sauce may be a quick fix to prove a point but does it make the kid a better person?
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Becky to katt 2012/02/16 16:24:22

+2
LIKE YOUR PLAN!

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jere.chievres 2011/11/29 20:08:45

My older cousin and I used to chugalug Teraapy's Pepper sauce, and Tabasco sauce, whats the problem ?

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Solomon Goth 2011/10/28 08:53:48

Um...my mum made us eat soap if we swore when we were children....and my father did physical stuff...so...i don't know what that kid is complaining about

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p18711 2011/10/03 11:13:11

+2
it is child abuse but is that all she ever has don to him no that cant be

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maria.jai 2011/09/30 18:24:07

+1
It just doesn't make sense - do you want your children to be afraid of the hot sauce or discourage undesirable behaviour - if you are going to teach your children, then your methods should be purposeful and meaningful.

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sankytheartist 2011/09/28 04:42:32

+5
There is nothing to be gained by subjecting a child to consume hot sauce by force. That type of behavior is an indication that someone lost control and it wasn't the child.

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iloveyou69 2011/09/27 19:43:46

+2
it's abuse. that is alllll.

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Suzzie aguzey 2011/09/19 22:25:38
XxShadow-Neko-GirlxX 2011/09/19 07:05:03

hmm at my school when we had chicken or something they would take away the hot sauce for 2weeks

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Sandra Feliciano 2011/09/18 12:52:33

+1
complete abuse

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sammie 2011/09/09 21:07:35

omgosh.....punishing takin away something thats really important to them.

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sammy 2011/09/06 05:24:38

where i come from, they punish kids wioth kanda which i was a victim. if i did any wrong, i have to be bitten wioth stick firstly and then talk to later, but i do not like to do that with my own kids because i v=came to realise that this is not the right way to disapline a kid

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JCD aka... to sammy 2011/10/03 11:20:32

What is "kanda"?

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fanny 2011/09/04 21:29:58

+1
abuse,that mother should have that hot sauce shoved up her arse

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««zamboni»»Hellsoldier-BN0 2011/09/04 03:12:06

I don't exactly know what to think...

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Suzzie aguzey 2011/09/04 00:56:17
aidanski2005 2011/09/03 15:50:54

+2
I think that the question we have been asked is too vague. I beleive that using hot sauce is abusive, however, I do not beleive that Jessica Beagley should have been tried for this. The simple fact that she was on the Dr. Phil show was her admission that she didn't know what to do to change her child's behaviour. Putting her on trial for her admission to her non-effective solution to dealing with her son's poor behaviour is abusive to her. She cried for help and we throw rocks at her.

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JudgeRight 2011/09/03 06:26:57

This woman got off light. There was a case of a couple who had adopted 11 kids who were teens or close when they arrived in their home and one of the kids had stolen something so the dad pinned the empty packages in a ziplock bag inside his shirt and told him he had to wear it throughout the school day. A teacher found this out and reported him to CPS. To this day CPS has a file open on this couple after $100s of thousands spent on lawyers to clear their name by a Judge's eval in oversight of the CPS eval. Judge rules in favor of the parents but again, the CPA still keeps his file open. Did I mention all the kids were pulled from their home over this but the judge re-instated their fosterparent status for them all.

I totally support the parent in this case. The kid suffers nothing permanent if he knows Mom loves him. My dad did as much but him I trust. Not so much the real abusers I experienced whom the state entrusted me to. ie teachers who never left a mark on me.

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Cal Blacken 2011/09/02 20:29:37

+2
well it would suck ,but as long as its not in the eyes i think its ok

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A Lil Wacked 2011/09/01 04:11:22

+4
The punishment should fit the crime.. my kids know all too well.. or did, what soap on a toothbrush and pepper tasted like.. for lying.. offenses of the mouth... so.. I'm the wrong one to ask..

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Richy 2011/08/31 16:41:35

+3
I don't think anyone should punish their kid with those actions. There are better ways to solve the problems.

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rhaver1 2011/08/31 16:23:22

+2
My kids wanted to try Dave's Insanity Sauce once, but I certainly wouldn't force it on them. Parents all have their own way, I don't agree with this, but it's none of my business.

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Sadie 2011/08/31 04:27:09

+4
How about having a bitch of a mother who used to pour merthiolate down your back as punishment when you and your sister were fighting and your sister raked her nails down your back. mommie dearest always took sister's side and said that I deserved the pain of the stinging merthiolate for fighting with precious sister. precious sister had no injuries becasue I would never do such upon her.

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EmrysRoberts 2011/08/30 16:45:41

+3
every parent has a different way of punishing their kids and in the end it usually works out but if you start saying harmless punishments like making kids take hot sauce or locking them up in their rooms for a while si child abuse,well then you're just going to get a lot of badly educated kids with no maners or behaviour

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M4S1K 2011/08/30 13:47:27

Ok my only question is, what kind of hot sauce was it?
That's the key here.
There is stuff out there that proclaims to be "hot sauce" but it's sweet.
Then of course there's the stuff that will make you sweat bullets.

So really we need all the facts before you can make a fair judgment.
But then again, SH has never been good about showing boths sides of a story.

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TuringsChild 2011/08/29 22:05:33

Yeah, right. My 7 year old granddaughter takes and eats yellow chiles without even asking. If this is a punishment, it's a ridiculously ineffective one!

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