Modern Family: 10 Worst Things Haley Did To The Family

As the eldest daughter of the Dunphy clan, Haley is “supposed” to be the protective, older sister who’s supposed to look out for her two younger siblings, Alex and Luke. But that’s not Haley. As Modern Family fans know, Haley is aloof, selfish, and superficial. She wants big things for herself but, unfortunately, gets sidetracked and doesn’t complete most of the things she sets off to do.

Deep down, Haley is a beautiful human being with a good heart; she just lets her vanity get in the way sometimes. With that being said, let’s take a look at 10 horrible things Haley has done to her own family.

10 GOT ARRESTED

In the episode “Arrested,” Claire and Phil wake up in the middle of the night to a phone call from the police department. Haley had been arrested for assaulting a police officer and underage drinking and was in serious trouble with her university.

Haley’s arrest put a big toll on the family because it was a blessing Haley was even accepted into college in the first place. To make matters worse, she didn’t seem thankful that her parents dropped everything to bail her out.

9  GOT KICKED OUT OF COLLEGE

As if getting arrested wasn’t horrible enough for the Dunphy clan, Haley’s university kicked her out for being a poor student and well, not the kind of person they wanted in their halls.

What was left for her to do? She went home. Phil and Claire helped Haley pack her bags and brought her home to figure out a new path to success.

8 CHOOSING A PARENTING BOOK OVER HER OWN PARENTS

In the first episode of the 11th season, we catch Haley in her new role as a mother. As a mother to twins, Haley is still getting the hang of her new life. Thankfully, she has her devoted parents to help her out. However, instead of going to her mom and dad for parenting advice, she’s following the advice of a book that demotes her own upbringing.

This deeply hurts Claire because it proves that Haley doesn’t plan her own parenting style. After the babies won’t stop crying, Claire essentially throws the book away and gives the babies binkies, which quiets them immediately. But as you can imagine, this annoys Haley and causes a rift between the mother/daughter duo.

7 COHERSED HER MOTHER INTO GETTING MATCHING TATTOOS (AND THEN OPTING-OUT)

To celebrate Haley’s 21st birthday, Gloria, Claire, Mitchel, and Cameron take her night for a night of partying. After one too many drinks, Haley tells her mom that she’s always wanted a tattoo and would love a matching one with her.

This warms Claire’s heart (even though she was against the idea of tattoos, to begin with) and the group heads to the parlor to get tatted. However, once Claire is almost done her tattoo, Haley chickens out… This means Claire got a tattoo for no reason.

6 DITCHING LUKE AT WORK

With no serious career prospects, Haley begins working for Luke at the country club. Luke may be younger than Haley but he took his job at the country club seriously and wanted Haley to do the same. But once Haley came face-to-face with a woman seeking an eligible bachelor, she takes Haley under her wing and hires her to be her assistant.

Haley quits on the spot (much to Luke’s dismay) and goes on to become a new assistant. Luke is seen upset and annoyed with Haley, especially since he went out on a whim hiring her in the first place. By the end of the episode, we see the woman going back on her word and not hiring Haley, leaving her jobless (yet again). Luckily for Haley, she has an understanding brother who hired her back.

5 DATING ARVIN

To be fair, Arvin and Haley were a good match, albeit odd. Arvin was an astrophysicist and Alex’s professor. He was charming and incredibly handsome and as per usual, he had a crush on Haley. Little to Arvin and Haley’s knowledge, Alex had a huge crush on Arvin.

As Alex’s older sister, Haley should have caught on that Alex had a thing for Arvin. All the signs were there. It killed Alex that Haley was hitting it off with a man that was the total package (while she dated a fireman who wasn’t exactly brilliant). Arvin and Haley eventually break it off but it still hurt Alex to her core.

4 DISAPPEARING AND GETTING ‘MARRIED’ IN VEGAS

To be fair, Haley never did get married in Las Vegas, nor did she disappear. However, it was her disappearance that made the entire family panic with fright. While Claire is waiting for her flight home from Chicago, she tries everything she can to get in touch with Haley but nothing works.

With the help of the family, they piece together that Haley could possibly be in Las Vegas with Andy getting married at a local chapel. To make matters worse, What to Expect When You’re Expecting arrived in the mail for Haley. But as we know, she was sleeping in her room the entire time.

3 CARING ABOUT HER CELL PHONE MORE THAN ALEX’S LIFE

While the Dunphys (and Manny) were crossing an intersection, their car almost came head-to-head with a semi-truck who blew a stop sign. The entire car was shaken up and it changed everyone’s view on life that day. The episode goes through each member in the car and what they experienced when the potential accident occurs.

We see Haley hug Alex and say “I thought I lost you!”, holding her closely. This warmed Alex’s heart but things changed when Alex found out Haley wasn’t talking about her — she was talking about her cell phone.

2 DATING OLDER MEN THAT DISTURB HER PARENTS

It’s a little creepy that Haley gets hit on by so many older men. There was Kenny the jean guy, Dylan is a few years older than her, and who can forget her relationship with Rainer.

Rainer was a weatherman with a daughter close to Haley’s age. The two became close and seemed like a good match but as you can imagine, it creeped her parents out (and hurt Phil because he thought Rainer was his buddy).

1 KICKING HER PARENTS OUT OF MOVE-IN DAY

As you can see, Haley’s time with higher-education was a huge mess. Both Claire and Phil felt a mix of emotions as they dropped Haley off for school. Phil had the entire day planned out with a moving-shirt, a playlist, and an adorable goodbye gift.

But in classic Haley form, she became annoyed with her parents and kicked them out before they were able to fully move her in. Both Claire and Phil left in a hurry with their tail between their legs, missing their daughter as she gave them the boot.

About The Author

Lynn Gibbs
(1652 Articles Published)

Lynn is a nomad who travels the globe on the hunt for her next adventure with her husband. A lover of being outside (and finding the best latte in town), Lynn is typically hiking, walking, or jogging when she’s not focusing on her love of writing. When it comes to shows streaming on Netflix or anything Bravo-related, Lynn’s your gal.

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