As the famous saying goes: “Blood is thicker than water.” Families are expected to go through many hardships together and overcome them as a team. This bond connects families and encourages them to always be there for one another…at least that was what was assumed to be happening for the Franke family. 

Ruby Franke, a mother of 6 and the Youtuber of the channel 8 Passengers, was recently arrested on two counts of aggravated child abuse. Franke and her collaborator created videos promoting harsh parental styles before their arrest. As her parenting vlogs are no longer available to the public, viewers accused Franke and her husband of having abusive parenting methods for years and years. 

Before her arrest, Franke’s channel gained a fair amount of 2.3 million subscribers and featured her 6 children and their daily lives. Even during the peak of her success, Franke received criticism because of her brutal punishments. To illustrate, there has been a vlog that showed one of the children having to sleep on a bean bag for months because of  “behavioral issues.” Another example is when Franke refused to pack a lunch for her then 6-year-old. The main reason why Franke was even caught was because one of the kids escaped out of the basement and sought help from their neighbors! The children, later found in the basements, were severely malnourished and abused. 

This case of family abuse in fame has been a sensitive topic since the beginning of the internet. Some viewers note how these types of channels are a total violation of the children’s privacy and believe that they should live their childhood without the constant eyes of the public. They describe the content as uncomfortable and pitiful as the children’s daily lives are exposed by their parents. In contrast, some viewers like to enjoy this type of wholesome and family-bonding video. 

When asked about the family channels and their level of safety and overall entertainment, a senior at Sunny Hills High School, Kaylyn Kim, expresses her thoughts that although “family channels can be a fun way to log memories,” in today’s “day and age…parents have to be extra cautious” about the amount of their lives that are being portrayed and published on the internet. This is especially true for Franke’s case; she put too much of her life out there and was more inclined to do horrible acts. Similarly, Joseph Kim, a senior at Cypress High School, believes a similar idea as he thinks “publicizing [one’s] family on the internet for content is a bit strange.” Relating to Franke’s case, the viewers watching her video have noticed how content-driven Franke was seen to be. This mindset isn’t found to be correlated with her arrest and crime, but it may have a little bit of correlation. 

Ultimately, family channels can be a very memorable lifestyle and be an important digital memory book for the future, but if the parents controlling these cameras have motives other than childhood memories or for fun, many problems and issues will arise as they did for Franke.