20/20 Wednesday (ABC) - 1999-12-29 - 2 of 2

Name: 20/20 Wednesday (ABC) - 1999-12-29 - 2 of 2
Uploaded: 2025-09-23
Duration: 808 s
Channel: malgent
Description: Read a transcript preview of “20/20 Wednesday (ABC) - 1999-12-29 - 2 of 2” from malgent, uploaded on 2025-09-23.

Channel: malgent

Uploaded: 2025-09-23

Duration: PT808S

Read a transcript preview of “20/20 Wednesday (ABC) - 1999-12-29 - 2 of 2” from malgent, uploaded on 2025-09-23.

Transcript preview

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Sam's behavior that serves as the

[0:01] lightning rod for his dad's anger.

[0:04] >> When you come home and the first words

[0:06] out of your mouth there's something

[0:08] rude, brutish, and nasty about Ruby, it

[0:11] tells me that you're not in a good mood

[0:14] because someone in a good mood would

[0:15] never say anything that mean and nasty.

[0:19] >> I'm sorry.

[0:20] >> Now, Mark isn't a screamer, but to his

[0:23] children, his anger comes through loud

[0:24] and clear, like on this night when Sam

[0:27] refused to eat his vegetables. Most of

[0:29] us would consider that age appropriate

[0:31] behavior for a 5-year-old. But it sparks

[0:34] an inappropriate response from dad.

[0:36] >> You are not my son right now. You are

[0:39] not in control of yourself. You need

[0:41] food. It is medicine for you.

[0:45] >> Rona Rener is a parenting counselor in

[0:47] Oakland, California. She leads workshops

[0:50] like this one on anger and discipline.

[0:52] Among the participants, Mark Novolo.

[0:55] Mark says the class and having our

[0:57] camera in his home have helped him begin

[0:59] to understand the effect his anger can

[1:01] have on his children.

[1:03] >> So, do you want Ruby to feel bad? I need

[1:06] to know. Are you mean or thoughtless?

[1:11] >> Stupid.

[1:12] >> No. The words are landing. They're

[1:14] having an impact because Sam is already

[1:16] now willing to label himself as stupid.

[1:18] It's just I'm a bad person. That's the

[1:21] message that he's getting here. And like

[1:24] a lot of parents, Mark sometimes isn't

[1:26] even aware of what he's saying. Remember

[1:28] Mark's cruel comment to Sam at the

[1:30] dinner table?

[1:32] >> You are not my son right now. You are

[1:34] not

[1:34] >> Mark had no idea he said that until