Posted in Current Events

A few days ago I read a port on Spunky's blog regarding an upcoming episode on Dr. Phil focusing on homeschooling.  While I hadn't know of these previously, I wasn't surprised to read about Kristen's story, Charles Lowers story, Carrie Lynn's story, or the Great Debate article on Spunkyhomeschool.

A brief recap is that Dr. Phil staged the show to support his narrow view of homeschooling by stacking the audience and choosing guests who use the most untraditional methods of homeschooling.  The articles support that Dr. Phil did not do his homework about homeschooling or that he even had any intention of educating people with his show.  You simply have to read the articles mentioned above. 

The reason this came as no surprise to me, is because I have first hand knowledge of how Dr. Phil and his staff operate.  A friend of mine replied to a call for a show about blended families.  She and her husband were given the warm fuzzies about their family and being on the show.  The camera crew came to their home and filmed, they were interviewed seperately (including the ex involved), and flown to California.  That's where it gets ugly. 

Very little footage of the filming at home was aired.  The show replayed one of my friends saying a terrible line over and over and over, as well as Dr. Phil taking it out of context.  Also, when challenged about that, all Phil could say was, "Would you like me to play that back for you?", which meant he would play the one line and nothing else.  They were blind sided and shocked that Phil never familiarized himself with the details of their dilemma.  In addition, when I watched the show, aside from recognizing the faces, not one part of the story was true.  Their lives had been hacked apart and re-pieced to sensationalize the situation and make Dr. Phil look good.  This was a HUGE lesson for me in that anyone not knowing the people on the show would have had the wrong idea of the situation, the people involved, and the help they were seeking.  Oh did I mention he didn't even address the issue they had been brought to California to discuss?

I could go on and on about the staging and sensationalization, as well as Dr. Phil's unethical methods of putting a show together, but what's the point.  He will continue with his practices to sham the public.  It is important to get the point across that he is a staging his showing, so that more people will realize that he isn't to be trusted.  Dr. Phil's show is a sham...and that is a shame. 

These are my thoughts.