[Josy]

A video showing a mother from Trinidad and Tobago whipping her 12-year-old daughter with a belt for sharing sexually explicit photos of herself on Facebook has gone viral, sparking a national conversation in the island nation about corporal punishment.


Last Sunday, a video was posted on Facebook showing Helen Bartlett, a mother of four from Point Fortin, beating her sobbing daughter while hurling profanities at her.


The six-minute clip, which depicts Ms Bartlett raining blows on the 12-year-old girl, who whimpers in pain and cowers from the belt, has been shared more than 43,000 online.

The unsettling clip has left viewers divided, with some people justifying the mother's actions, while others calling it child abuse.


On Wednesday, Bartlett’s daughter and her older sister uploaded another video in response to the controversy, expressing support for their mother.


Looking into the camera, the two girls said Bartlett was a good mother who wanted to protect her child from teenage pregnancy, or worse.


When Helen Bartlett was interviewed by a local radio station earlier this week, the woman declared she was 'prepared to go to jail' to set her wayward young daughter on the right path, Trinidad Express reported.

More at the link

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...oes-viral.html

[Kazanne]

No child should be beaten,but I do understand the mom not wanting her daughter doing that,but that is not the way to do it imo.

[Kizzy]

Maybe monitoring her whilst on the PC might have been better?
The girl may have been groomed, who was asking for these pictures I would want to know.
Trying to justify physical violence towards a minor won't wash sorry.

[armand.kay]

Them yardie mums

[armand.kay]

Why did she post a video online anyway

[Tom4784]

Only bad parents resort to violence.

[Samuel.]

Those best rated comments... what the actual ****

Awful

[Ammi]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

Only bad parents resort to violence.

..I agree with this but I think the thing is..(except for extremes and generally awful/bad/cruel people..)...that people/parents often have a different belief in what they feel is being a good or bad parent..whether it be discussing things with their children/pointing out dangers/just discussing their choices etc or being violent in trying to get them to never do something again, they do believe that they're acting 'in the best interest..'...so in a way it's hard really to call them bad parents because they really believe that they're being good parents...or at least in this case, I think...

[arista]

Originally Posted by Kazanne

No child should be beaten,but I do understand the mom not wanting her daughter doing that,but that is not the way to do it imo.

But thats that nation Trinidad and Tobago
nothing like the UK

[Shaun]

The thing that makes me laugh with all these so-called puritan mothers and fathers of a certain generation harking on about the misuse of social media, or in this instance the sharing of explicit images, is that there's conveniently no equivalent so available to call upon from their own adolescence. Do these people (the 'top rated' comments on the article, or whatever) seriously expect us to believe that they both:

1) Never did anything promiscuous before the age of consent
2) Would never do the same thing if given the same access to easy media as her daughter has?

And then this stupid woman had the audacity to share her own shock-porn in the form of this video?

I won't comment on the abuse side of it because I do believe that smacking/whatever (in moderation) CAN be okay, but it's obvious that this instance is way over the line.

[user104658]

I'd take that belt and beat her about the head with it. This would make me a good citizen, because I'm just educating her. And of course, if I believe I'm doing the right thing then it wouldn't be fair to call me a bad citizen and/or criminal. Right?

This isn't just abusive it's a serious assault. She should be in prison. The fact that her own daughters are justifying it for her makes it all the more sickening - they'll blindly do the same to their own children, and a cycle of domestic violence continues.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

Only bad parents resort to violence.

This ^

[Jake.]

Just seen this, I was beyond shocked and disgusted

[Nedusa]

Probably deserved a good beating.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Nedusa

Probably deserved a good beating.

Seriously?

[Vanessa]

I don't want to see it. Violence is wrong.

[Nedusa]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

Seriously?

OK........a seriously good beating

[MTVN]

Steady on Nedusa

[Crimson Dynamo]

Its another country and culture and in that country you get a beating if your bad.

[Nedusa]

Originally Posted by MTVN

Steady on Nedusa

Only Joking..........my humour is sometimes a bit misinterpreted

[Marsh.]

Helen Bartlett?

[Kizzy]

I just watched the vid, when it finished there's another of an american dad and his daughter.... that is 10x worse!

[Kizzy]

Anyone remember this in the mail?...

Youtube video

[Z]

^Ah I remember that video Kiz... tough to watch

Obviously the extent of what the mother did to her daughter is obscene but you can bet any money the daughter's not likely to be doing something as stupid as sharing naked pictures on the internet again any time soon.