The Twerking Dad Is In Jail, And No, I Still Don’t Think Beating Kids Is Ever Justified

ByEve Vawter

Dad Who Beat His Daughters For TwerkingI love our readers so much. Last night  I received an email from one of our awesome readers who told me about an update to the horrific example of bad parenting I wrote about where a dad who beat his daughters for twerking with a cable cord after discovering they had upload a video of themselves twerking to Facebook. The man in question is Greg Horn from Dayton, Ohio and he has been charged with child endangerment and corporal punishment. Police were alerted to the attack by the mother of the sisters, who saw welts and open wounds on her daughter’s thigh.

I love the conversations we are having about spanking and using other methods of physical force as “child discipline” because I do think that even though the majority of our readers were appalled at Horn’s actions, there are still, judging by the comments, quite a few parents who believe that he was justified in beating the girls. I love the fact we can all give our opinions on this topic, and I have been thinking about what you all have been saying a lot.

One of the comments that struck me (I know, poor word choice)  was this one:

Frustrated@theworld  Cee ”¢ a day ago

Im sure you are not African American. SO, with that being said, you do not know the stigma that goes into being one. These girls are misguided, tweaking is NOT JUST DANCING, DO NOT BE FOOL BY THIS IGNORANT article. Twerking is booty shaking and very sexual. No, sixteen year old girl should be dancing like that, and because you do not know the sick subculture of black life you would not be so quick to judge. Think about this. Girls and guys in impoverish areas of America need a way to make a living, they look around at their surroundings and see alot of negativity. Many people turn to drugs and alcohol and others turn to trying to become the next big athlete. You- being a female in this area, are not getting an adequate education because none of the “good teachers” want to teach in the inner city and need money to help feed your brothers and sisters because your mom works 2 jobs and your dad is in jail for selling crack to make money to feed you and your family. So you decided to twerk on camera for a little fame. You get noticed by some rapper and then you are in his video. You are making money but inside you are empty. What can you offer this world but your body? You are not a bad person, just limited by your situation and NOW those little girls ^^^^ in that video think that twerking is a fun new way to get attention from guys want to imitate you….its a vicious cycle. People are trying to put a stop to this abomination of always having women of color be seen as the sluts of the internet. So you feel as though he is a monster??? You are the monster of ignorance for not understanding that he is trying to save those girls for being seen as a ignorant girl WHO im sure you would see on the street and shake your head at in dismay. So please hush. You stay living in your sheltered life where everything is white and vanilla but I see in color honey and its not a pretty world.

And yes, I’m white. I don’t know what it’s like to be African American or what it’s like to raise a black daughter living in poverty but I can assure you, being seen as a “slut” is not something only women of color face. It affects all women, no matter what race they are.

I think we all agree that “tweaking” isn’t like, the most proper way to conduct oneself. Except in the case of our reader Alex, who plans on learning how to do this straightaway:

Alex Lee ”¢ 2 days ago

As a father, *I* am going to learn this. If my kids want to participate, that’s fine, too – but I suspect that once I start twerking, it’ll no longer be cool and, well, problem solved.

I don’t have a unicorn onesie, but I do have a sombrero and a serape. Let’s do this.

We all want, no matter what race we are, to raise kids who are responsible and who have huge amounts of self-respect and who want to do great things in the world. No one ever holds their newborn daughter and says “Gee, one day I hope you grow up and put on a pair of skimpy panties and twerk on an Internet video.” But even as sexually explicit as this form of dancing is (And it should be noted, as much as I appreciate the parental concern this all strikes me as being pretty goofy, and highly reminiscent of that Footloose movie) it’s just dancing. Dancing doesn’t lead to drug use or teen pregnancy or a life of poverty and crime. But what is scientifically proven is that children who are physically abused are 30 percent more likely to commit a violent crime. Abused girls are 25 percent more likely to have a teen pregnancy.

What Greg Horn did was disgusting and criminal. I will sleep better knowing his daughters won’t be subjected to his abuse. I’m all for raising strong, responsible kids , but I just don’t think beating the shit out of them is how we do this.

(Image: Vimeo)

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