Although what the camera captures seems innocent, family vlogging is proving to be unfair and exploitative for the children being featured.
After the arrest for child abuse of mother Ruby Franke from the 8 Passengers YouTube channel, members of the Franke family have exposed the reality of their family vlogging.
In The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom, the book by Franke’s eldest daughter, Shari Franke, she speaks about the horrors she faced in her childhood. According to Shari Franke, as the YouTube channel grew, it became more of a priority for her mom than her own children’s feelings.
In the documentary A Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke, footage of Ruby telling her eldest son Chad to “fake being happy” for the sake of the video is exposed.
Several days a week, the six Franke children were forced to be recorded for the YouTube channel. Private moments were exploited for views, which made the children uncomfortable.
Some examples of this are Chad’s first time shaving, shopping for bras with the two middle daughters, and even when the children were ill.
Other ongoing family YouTube channels, like The LaBrant Fam and The Norris Nuts, also record vulnerable moments, like their kids crying. These are private moments that should not have been recorded and posted on the internet.
These incidents negatively impact the kids because it exposes the private areas of their lives and puts them in uncomfortable situations. People like their classmates, teachers, or employers can see these videos – which will affect how the world views the children for the rest of their lives.
There are currently no laws preventing family vlogging, and only recently did Illinois, Minnesota, and California pass laws that ensure the children receive money from the videos they are featured in. This leaves children in the remaining 47 states totally unprotected.
People need to begin recognizing how wrong this type of family vlogging is, and more laws should be passed to protect the lives of the children affected.
