Dr Phil: The Student and the Professor
Dr Phil looked into a case of stalking and a dispute between a teacher and a former student that began when Kaila was a freshman in fall 2013. She became close with psychology professor Laura, and the two began connecting outside of the classroom.
One night, Kaila was sleeping at Laura’s house and had to go to the emergency room. When she returned, she was shocked to find that many of her possessions had been moved into Laura’s home. But she must not have been too uncomfortable, because she left her stuff there for months.
Dr Phil: Fired Over Fake Text Messages
Dr Phil took on the story of a student and former professor embroiled in a stalking case. This story involves fake text messages and bad judgment. (shumbrat / Shutterstock.com)
When the two parted ways as friends, Kaila claimed that Laura sent her text messages as harassment. She showed them to the police and school officials. Ultimately, Laura lost her job, even though the police concluded that she did not send the messages. The women have been unable to put the past behind them, so they turned to Dr Phil for some help.
Dr Phil first wondered about Kaila living at Laura’s home. Laura recalled the incident when she called 911 due to Kaila’s stomach pain. She felt that the first responders were not taking her seriously, and later she found out that they suspected Kaila was trying to get painkillers to feed an addiction.
Dr Phil: Harassment Via Electronic Communications
Laura also recalled having her son and a group of others help move Kaila’s things into the house. She seemed to think she was acting in the best interests of the student. I suspect that it’s always a good idea to be cautious about inviting people into your home as tenants, especially if you have a professional relationship with them, as a teacher would with a student.
Later, when Kaila took text message evidence to the police, Laura was charged with a felony for harassment via electronic communications. Dr Phil noted that the charges were dropped, and Laura said that is because she never sent the death threats. Phone records proved that the messages did not come from her phone.
Dr Phil: Did Kaila Create the Fake Text Messages?
“It turns out that there are cell phone apps that you can download where you can send fake text messages to other people,” Laura said. Dr Phil showed one of the text messages in question and compared it to messages between Kaila and Laura that are not in dispute.
Kaila had a tell that might give her away: either as a quirk of her own speech or due to the autocorrect function on her phone, Kaila frequently capitalizes the word “But,” even in the middle of a sentence. Among the messages that Laura was accused of sending was one that capitalized the B in “But,” and Dr Phil insinuated that Kaila actually fabricated the messages to make trouble for Laura.
Dr Phil: #StalkingDrama
Laura did lose her job due to all this #StalkingDrama. Her dismissal was part of her former employer’s zero tolerance policy regarding violence and threats. Though she has been vindicated by the police department, her position had yet to be reinstated.
“I would feel compelled to hire you back, and then I would immediately fire you for inappropriate conduct as a college professor, because you don’t recognize boundaries,” Dr Phil said. He told her it was inappropriate to move a student in and share text answers with her.
Dr Phil: Can Laura’s Career Recover?
Dr Phil also told Laura that she was not qualified to help Kaila deal with the issues in her life, which might have included an eating disorder, among other behavioral concerns. I wonder what new career Laura might consider once she puts this incident behind her.
Was Laura hoping that taking her case to Dr Phil’s audience would help to clear her name? I can see the value in that among her peers, perhaps. Hopefully Laura has learned a valuable lesson and can rebound from this.
Dr Phil: What Should I Do If I Am Wrongfully Accused?
How can you move on when you have been wrongfully accused? Dr Phil has talked about this topic in the past. His advice has a lot to do with getting real about the situation. Think practically about what power you truly have to change the circumstances. The unfortunate truth may be that you have to accept that you were put in a negative position, and you have to just move forward from there.
This seems like a golden opportunity to be the bigger person. Unless you want to continue reliving the trauma for the rest of your life, you will have to get good at ignoring rumors and innuendo. You can also appeal to the people closest to you in your life, who are most likely to accept and believe your truthful version of the events.
Do you have any advice for Laura now that she has hopefully put this situation in her past once and for all?
Julie Dwenger says
I feel that you favored the student in a very unfair way. “You have your whole life ahead of you. Hopefully this hasn’t hurt you too bad” is basically what you said to her. You even had the gall to say that “you didn’t know if she sent the text message or not.” Are you KIDDING?? Hell, you’ve been harder on kids who do drugs or shoplift. Poor little Kaila got a free pass. Many of us haven’t had much of a childhood. That girl is disturbed. But cutting down the teacher wasn’t a problem for you. I am done watching your program.
Judy Gower says
In my opinion Dr. Phil really screwed up on this one. He basically told the student that it’s fine to use and abuse people because she had a hard life. When her professor took an interest she took full advantage and then kicked her in the teeth. It seems the professor overstepped, but at least tried to show a kindness. Dr. Phil pretty much told the professor to quit caring about the welfare of others. Ouch.
Julie Dwenger says
Yep, Judy, absolutely. I see a little of myself in the professor, bringing home needy cases, etc. You do it b/c you can’t bear to see someone struggling so badly. She did it out of kindness not warped b/c she has warped intentions to harm this person. I agree that she shouldn’t bring home college students but I thought that the disparity in his treatment was ridiculous. Student gets off with absolutely NO criticism and professor deserves to be tarred and feathered!
Yvonne Baird says
I too, was shocked at Dr. Phil’s unfair disrespectful attitude toward the Professor, and his benign acceptance of Kaila’s malicious and bizarre intentions to destroy the Professor. There have been other shows when Dr. Phil has been unfair in his evaluation & it always seems to be toward someone who takes it upon themselves to deal with a situation where they assume to have confidence in how to handle a problem. He, Dr. Phil, shows a resentment for anyone who appears to show some share of competence, & he becomes unnecessarily verbally insulting . He always favors the needy person, and I would guess he always has to be the top dog in every circle. In some ways he has an insufferable Bill O’Reilly demeanor.
Lesley says
I understand that the professor was partly in the wrong to care for the student. Unfortunately it backed fired on her. The professor had said that she had taken care of young people in the past and had a. Good outcome. This is why there are rules in place to protect both individuals.
It is hard and sad that an individual whom had given so much to education, has lost her job.
But she broke the rules. As for the young women “the Student” she obviously has mental health issues. It was proven that she sent the messages on her own phone. That is the truth. No one wins really. I think the professor went on the show to proove her innocents. Unfortunately they are both in the wrong. The professor will recover as she has a loving family it might take a while but she will move.
As for the student she needs help not a husband who goes along with her outlandish stories. She may cause serious harm to someone if she is aloud to get away with harassing people again.
Nancy says
He basically just waved his finger at the nasty, proven lying and slandering girl (who is an adult) and threw all his criticism to the woman whose crime was to actually care a little too much for her student.
julia says
I came across this video on youtube and scrolled down only to see no comments. I was shocked at this entire story. Throughout the video the professor seemed coherent, well educated, stable, and appeared to have her heart in the right place. The girl shouldve been grateful to have someone who cared whether she lived or died. She pretty much sabotaged one of the few good people on this earth. Dr phil shouldve been harder on the girl. Her abusive childhood (and I had one too) doesnt give her the right to stomp on others. Bad judgement Phil.
Alice says
It’s the case of no good deed goes unpunished in this one. The professor definitely overstepped her boundries but it was done out of an attempt at kindness. She knows she’s done the wrong thing and I’ll bet you she never goes out of her way to do something like this again. I feel kind of sorry for her. She was in the wrong, but she didn’t deserve this. The student is disturbed and needs mental help. She set up a false death threat that got someone fired and could have sent them to jail if the deception wasn’t noted. She needs to know that is never ok.