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    19 Bad — And I Mean BAD — Parenting Decisions Characters Made On TV Shows

    Why were the parents never around on teen dramas?

    Kelly Martinez
    by Kelly Martinez

    BuzzFeed Staff

    We recently asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us about the worst parenting decision a character made on a TV show. Here are some of the best responses:

    Note: Some of the following contain mentions of sexual assault and abuse.

    🚨 Spoilers ahead! 🚨

    1. First, when Tori's parents were absolutely never around on Victorious:

    Tori taking care of Trina after Trina gets her wisdom teeth out
    TeenNick

    "They literally made Tori stay home with Trina when she had her wisdom teeth removed, were barely present throughout the series, and were just bad parents overall."

    —aneggonmylegg

    2. When Joyce kicked Buffy out and then got mad at her for leaving on Buffy the Vampire Slayer:

    Joyce: "If you walk out of this house don't even think about coming back"
    The WB

    "She kicked Buffy out of the house and then was angry when Buffy did, in fact, leave the house."

    —ashley1246

    3. When Aaron Echolls slept with his teenage son's girlfriend and then killed her on Veronica Mars:

    Aaron: "I am not playing with you," Lily: "You're usually very interested in playing with me"
    UPN

    —jonassister7536

    4. When Pam's mom dated Michael, Pam's boss, on The Office:

    Pam's mom with Michael
    NBC

    "I know Pam was an adult, but this was still such a bad parenting decision."

    —kiyochiic

    5. When both Brooke and Peyton's parents were always absent on One Tree Hill:

    Brooke says she could probably set herself on fire and her mom wouldn't notice
    The WB

    "They were gone 'for work' 99% of the time — it’s like all of these kids were expected to bring themselves up."

    —galfromscotland

    6. When Ander's mom outed Omar to his dad on Elite:

    Ander's mom tells Omar's dad it "must be hell to be a woman or a homosexual in his family"
    Netflix

    —kawaiicat4

    7. When Julie slept with her daughter Marissa's high school ex-boyfriend on The O.C.:

    Julie and Luke kissing outside motel
    Fox

    "Julie did redeem herself in later seasons, but she was awful in Season 1."

    —helenavanh

    8. When Cheryl's mom sent her to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy because she didn't approve of her being a lesbian on Riverdale:

    Penelope says Cheryl started exhibiting "strange, deviant behavior" so she sent her to a "private wellness institute"
    The CW

    —juliareznikov1

    9. When Bart Bass faked his own death on Gossip Girl:

    Chuck finds out his father is still alive
    The CW

    "Pretty much all of the parents were a disaster, so it was no surprise that all of their kids were hot messes too."

    —ariellej4

    10. When Quinn's parents kicked her out for being pregnant on Glee:

    Quinn's dad tells both her and Finn to get out of his house
    Fox

    —megana459810788

    11. When Timmy's parents kept hiring Vicky to babysit him on The Fairly OddParents:

    Vicky bullying Timmy
    Nickelodeon

    "They could clearly see how Timmy felt about Vicky, yet they kept hiring her."

    —colleend9

    12. When Spencer's dad had all these other children and just kept them a secret from his family on Pretty Little Liars:

    Spencer's secret identical twin: "Hello, sister"
    Freeform

    "Every single parent on Pretty Little Liars made terrible decisions, but Spencer’s parents were the absolute worst."

    —jokeboxhero

    13. When Moira and Johnny knew virtually nothing about Alexis's life on Schitt's Creek:

    David says Moira once took the wrong baby home from preschool and Moira claims Alexis "looked Chinese as an infant"
    Pop

    "I love them, but I think we can all agree that Johnny and Moira were pretty crappy parents — they hardly knew anything about Alexis’s life."

    —scarecrowboat3000

    "I mean, who forgets their own daughter's middle name?!"

    —jenniferhelenb

    14. When Lydia's mom sent her to the Eichen House on Teen Wolf:

    Lydia carried by staff in Eichen House
    MTV

    "Stiles even warned her not to!"

    —iiunixiiii

    15. When Spike was completely clueless about Emma's online "boyfriend," who turned out to be a grown man on Degrassi: The Next Generation:

    Spike teases Emma about getting an email from her boyfriend
    CTV

    "Spike even talked about how Emma was being weird about her emails at the beginning of the episode. It was so irresponsible."

    —childrenofthecornbread

    16. When Dean's dad sent him to a boys home for stealing food to feed his little brother on Supernatural:

    Cop brings young Dean to Sunny's boy home after he arrests him for stealing peanut butter and bread
    The CW

    "John Winchester is one of the worst TV dads of all time. Had John been with his boys, Dean wouldn’t have had to steal food to survive."

    —chandlerm43a4b1dcb

    17. When Jamie accused Brianna of lying about being sexually assaulted on Outlander:

    Jamie: "You bedded him from lust? I nearly killed a man, and to think I was defending your honor"
    Starz

    "As much as I love Jamie, I wanted to punch him for this."

    —izzydracula666

    18. When Lorelai constantly acted like Rory's best friend instead of her parent on Gilmore Girls:

    Lorelai teases Rory by hanging her mugshot on the fridge, doesn't appear to even be mad
    The WB

    "I get that Lorelai was young when she had Rory, but a parent shouldn't be their kid's best friend — it makes it so much harder to actually discipline your kids."

    —unabridged81

    19. And finally, literally every parenting decision ever made on Riverdale:

    Alice says Hal can't do anything right, "not even be a serial killer"
    The CW

    —elongb2015

    Got a bad parenting moment from a TV show that didn't make this list? Tell us in the comments!

    Note: Submissions have been edited for length and clarity.