Dr. Phil, you disgust me

Dr. Phil did something absolutely sickening a few weeks ago and I keep meaning to write about it here. I have never been a fan of these daytime talk shows which basically involve people telling the world how messed up their lives are. But you know, if adults want to participate in this insanity, what can you do? People have the right to make fools of themselves.

Kids are another matter.

A few weeks ago, Dr. Phil told a family on national television that their son has 9 of the 14 traits of a serial killer. You probably heard about it or saw a commercial for the show as it was heavily promoted. What were this child's parents thinking? Let's label our kid in front of the whole world. Let's give him no chance of being accepted anywhere in his hometown. Let's destroy his life for the sake of being on TV. And what kind of doctor diagnoises a child on national television? Someone take his license away! Please.

I see one organization agrees with me. Check out this story.

I'm not arguing that Dr. Phil was wrong about the kid being a potential serial killer. But something as serious as that does not belong on TV. He's already drastically hurt the child's chances of being helped by making him a public spectacle. When Dr. Phil was done filming this segment, he should have realized that it had no place on TV and consulted with the parents privately.

Dr. Phil, you made a sick and destructive choice for the sake of ratings and money. If you're a real doctor who took an oath to save lives, you'll do what you can to fix this.