I'm not a big fan of Dr Phil, but I happened to catch the beginning of his show yesterday and I actually found myself really agreeing with him.

I got the impression that the show was at least a few months old (this was on daytime TV in Sydney). At the beginning of the show they showed surveillance film of an african-american man getting on a school bus with his daughter. The man was almost out of control. He was saying stuff like "any of you touch my daughter I'm going to *%#$ you up". He threatened to kill one of the students and the bus driver.

Flash back to the audience and it was clear that they disapproved.

Then Dr Phil brought the man in question out onto the stage. It was clear that he was a decent and caring man and he accepted that he had gone a little too far. It turned out that his 12 year old daughter had cerebral palsy and had been bullied mercilessly, to the extent that she refused to get on the bus. Boys were spitting in her hair, throwing condoms at her, calling her black trash, hitting her in the back of the head, grabbing her breasts, and the bus driver and the school were doing nothing about it. The man was in tears, the audience was in tears, and they were suddenly on his side completely.

If you ask me the only thing excessive about the father's reaction was the death threats. The rest was entirely reasonable given the circumstances. The man was charged with 2nd degree misdemeanours.

Dr Phil told the man that if it were one of his children bullying the girl, that he would testify on the man's behalf at the man's trial. I admired that sentiment. I would do the same thing.