Wow - this kid is so, so sad. And one day, when she's grown up a bit, she's going to be so incredibly embarrassed when she sees herself on this show. And then, hopefully, she'll grow up some more and everything will turn out okay. Girl, I speak from experience... start nurturing the unique person inside of you and stop looking to casual acquaintances and complete strangers to validate your existence. Good luck, Demi!

This show was just on tv here in Belgium.
I am 23 now but when I was 14-15 I also started to dress more "sexy". Especially when I could go out. My parents didnt mind at all, no one did actually. I wore tight pants and shirts showing my tummy. Also my best friends mom bought me thongs when I was just 12 years old. I didnt show them thought but when I was older I did and guys I knew asked me which colour thong I was wearing and then I told them.
Did I want to have sex? no. Did I want a relationship? No, I actually have never wanted a relationship and I still dont. I dont even feel sexually attracted. Im never been traumatised, never had negative experiences, just dont want it. But thats another subject.
So anyway, I started to spend more time on the computer and came in contact with people who thought about life, and I read so many different peoples opinions and I started to realise why I was the way I was, and why I was behaving in such a way. I wanted attention and I wanted to be seen as "hot" because I saw guys responded to that. I had a lot of male attraction. Also the media is a huuugeeeee influence on children;, both males and females. Males are taught to like woman who dress like that, to pursue sexual imaging, and girls are taught to become the sexual image. There is so much to be said about that and I seriously think all people that have jobs promoting this kind of sexualistic superficial systematic programmed behaviour should speak up, stop, and make a carreer change. Its insane, and they remain blind to it although they know very well what they are doing.
Since my parents didnt mind it, and no one in my family did, I learned myself. And I think a lot about myself and questioned all my behaviour and what i think and feel and never follow it blindly. So I stopped dressing a certain way to be liked or approved off, I stopped wearing all make up and use of chemical products which promote animals abuse (animal testing) and sexualisation. We have to stop valuing ourselves based on pictures. Its crazy.

I also notice often in america people pay more attention to this, in my circle of growing up it is all seen as kinda normal. Also people were drunk a lot, my parents were drunk every weekend but its seen as normal here because all their friends do it to. I always dissaproved and me and my brother dont drink at all. My parents often drove drunk in the car with us. I was always very scared and really really angry at my parents. My mom stopped drinking. I had to tell her a thousand times how stupid it is an how she compromises herself. She said she never thought much about what she did but now she does. So its kinda upside down lol, the child parenting the parent. Although its not parenting. Its sharing the realisations and not allowing another being to keep up with destructive behaviour both towards themselves and others.

So maybe this girl will do the same and start to make up her own mind and direct herself towards what is best for herself and ALL. But anyway, the parents have a big responsability in a childs life and stop comparing the child to all kinds of things, and stimulate the child to express itself without fear, but also not to blindly follow feelings and emotions and thoughts because those are programmed within us. And since the parents have been programmed, it takes a lot of self honesty to see through it.

I personally think that if the parents have a problem with the way she dresses, how about not buying her those clothes? I mean, they are letting the girl take total control. She's just a KID for crying out loud! The only one they can blame is themselves because they allow it. They should not take away her computer/cellphone or whatever, they should take away the CLOTHES and the makeup. They can't blame the girl, she is just influenced by the media, as any girl probably is. They should get their act together and be responsible for their actions as parents.

I would just like to say that in Holland, it's perfectly normal for teenage girls to dress like that. I don't see the problem, they're young and attractive and are discovering men are after that and would do anything for them. It's part of a learning process, 14 is a normal age for that. Sure, for some girls this doesn't happen untill they're around 16,17 but those are late developing. 14 is the appropriate and normal age to be dressing sexy and discovering the differences between men and women

The role of Parent and child has clearly become quite blurred here. I have a 13 yrold girl who would love to dress like this. My answer NO!! that's it . and My respose to argument and whining is "It's inappropriate i said No"  She's 13 i have the money not her and i'm not buying these clothes for her. If i suspect she is sneaking something to school, i give her the opportunity to remove it from her bag and put it away, then she can bring the bag for me to inspect. Supervision, consistancy and heaps of open conversation about what is appropriate and what's not.

As the previous comment from Denmark, I was shocked about this show. Dr. Phil usually strikes me as wise and tolerant, but I completely disagree with what he advised here. We have young (even younger) girls trying to copy sexy girls they constantly watch on MTV or TMF too but the majority in The Netherlands would see this as typical puberty behaviour that is a normal result of changing hormones. We would laugh and even compliment on the way they are growing up rather than condemn. Complete intolerance will never be understood, the trick is to dose it, I would say. This girls father... spanking his little daughther and bragging that he won't stop it... What gives him the right to be such a tiran? This is all a combination of a changing body and indeed low self esteem. The parents should seek for a way to agree on a more mature look without it becoming too sexy.
Another thing that struck me was Dr. Phil's belief that wearing a suit makes him more reliable. Unbelievable! Can Americans not look through this? Be authentic, that's the point, suit or no suit, be yourself. The girl in the show is exploring where her authenticity lies, she should be carefully guided and not burned down nor spanked by her daddy. Amazed...

Hi! I'm from a town in denmark called viborg. After seeing this show I thought to my self that the US is very different to Denmark. Here in denmark girls as young as 12 years old go in tight jeans, very short skirts,thongs and very small t-shirts. I think that the US would be very surprised to see how girls act and look in denmark. So my advice to Dr.Phil is, try to kom to denmark and try yo see some of these girls. You will have a heart attack. It's nothing compared to Demi.

If you want to know want a person is think of you see were there eyes are + fore how long.
Being sexy only counts from shoulder to knees. The clothes just curtin in the way. You know
if your seen as a person when there eyes move from the body after a few seconds back to
the face + eye and don't move back down. To muck makeup + jewllery? put on to much you
end up looking like darth vader, more metal + plastic than human. A lot of sexy women out there
how many have a 1 night friend or permanant friend ? You seem like a nice person in looks +
mind but don't foreget when a person see,s a sex person they don't see the age or want to know
the next day.   just a person apionion, like me spellion don't meen i right

hello i just wanted to share my opinion. i grew up in Los Angeles, CA. I was teased allot in middle school for stupid reasons like the fact that my parents didn't let me shave my legs, i was called werewolf. my self esteem was very bad. my mother couldn't afford to buy me clothes or shoes that were "in". as i got older and i was given money for my birth-day i saved up and got my self some nice things. in high school i was some what a geek 9th-10th grade. i started wearing thongs because i didn't want any one to tease me about having on "parachutes", or "granny panties". it's not that hard to find a reason to tease someone.  but when i was in 11th grade i gota job at the local flower shop and was able to shop at Ross.  yes  i did buy tight outfits. and yeah i did like getting guys attention, but if you don't dress girlie or in tight clothes you have a great chance of being called a dike. but i didn't dress too sexy or slutty either, just as long as i wasn't teased i was OK. i am a mother to a beautiful baby girl who is 19 months old, and am already horrified about what teen-agers are going to be like for her generation.  but when a teen ager is out of control the way she is, i suggest donate her clothes, and stop buying her such provocative clothing.  

I am going to state the obvious here. Parents, it is your JOB to raise your kids. You pay the bills, you drive the car, you run the show! Your imput is vital and you don't sleep while you raise kids!

You don't want your kids to wear slutty clothes? Then YOU DO NOT buy them. You don't want your kids to visit improper web sites? MONITOR computer use. You don't want your child to watch inappropriate movies and TV shows? Program the remote control, don't purchase those channels on your cable service, or get rid of the TV!  You want your kids to develop healthy eating habits? Do not put junk food in the pantry.

DO NOT be your kids "friend". Be a parent. And be on the same page as your spouse! Even if you don't really totally agree, come to terms behind closed doors and ALWAYS provide a unified front.  Don't confuse being popular with your kids with parenting. Parents PLEASE take on the responsibility and accountability of raising kids into responsible, respectable adults. Our society is at stake.