The Truth About Family Vloggers

Over the past year, I have found a new love for Youtube. Youtube has become one of the most popular social media apps in today’s age, with no signs of decline anytime soon. The videos I initially watched were family vloggers, but with a deeper dive into Youtube, I learned the negative effects of these channels. 

Child’s Wellbeing

When a parent creates content revolving around their children, the child’s well-being becomes the second priority while money takes the lead. Often times these videos are made at the expense of a child’s emotional, or sometimes even physical, well-being. For example, one father vlogger, Cordero James Brady, racked up millions of views and subscribers by pranking his children. However, he made headlines when one prank went too far. The viral video showed him feeding his children ice cream laced with laxatives. He continues to record them as they sit in the bathroom, crying out in pain. 

Fortunately, many viewers noticed the child abuse happening and led to the immediate cancellation of this Youtuber. On the other hand, there are still thousands of parents on the internet exposing their children to the same abuse and not getting repercussions. Most people see how these channels are causing problems, but they don’t realize the toll it has on a child and the consequences it will have later in life. Another family channel under fire last year was 8 Passengers for the questionable ways they punish their children. Their second oldest child, Chad, was sent to the Anasazi Foundation Wilderness Therapy Program for ten weeks for behavioral issues. This well-known program has had many controversies around it and the child abuse that occurs at this camp. 

Once Chad was back, he almost immediately lost access to his bedroom and had to sleep on a beanbag for six months for pulling a prank on his younger brother. In a video posted about this, the 15-year-old explained how he had no friends, and no one at his school wanted to talk to him. The content posted about him and the consequences made by their parents is causing a mental and emotional toll on this child.

Privacy/Consent

In addition to a child’s wellness being jeopardized, their privacy and consent are taken away with each video posted. Many of these family channels have gained some of their highest views on videos about their daughters hitting puberty, bra shopping, and menstrual cycles. It raises the question of where the boundaries are with some of these channels, and are these kids old enough to be able to give consent to these videos?

First, let’s focus on privacy. Having millions of people know when a little girl has hit puberty and watching them experience their first-time bra shopping gives children almost no privacy. These topics are some of the most private– and sometimes embarrassing– things for a young girl to go through; therefore, they should not be made into content for others to watch. On another note, some of the people watching these videos are watching them for the wrong reasons. Focusing on the analytics of some of the most popular Youtube pages, approximately 70 percent of males, especially those between the ages of 18-44, watch these videos. 

It is concerning to think that these men are watching videos about young girls getting their first periods and learning how to shave. More so, it should be even more concerning that parents are exploiting their children’s privacy without regard to who may be watching. Nonetheless, there should be more guidelines on Youtube’s terms to prevent the exposure of children in this way. 

Another idea to bring up is the age of consent and informed consent. One excuse many of these channels have for exploiting their children is that the child gave them consent to record and post them. However, a very young child cannot give informed consent because they honestly probably don’t understand exactly what they are consenting to. 

These children are also unaware at a young age of the effects this will have on them later in adulthood. Once the child is old enough to get a job, their employer will look them up and see hundreds of videos from their childhood. Not to mention, videos about getting their periods and bra shopping is not something most people want their employers to see. In addition, many children of Youtubers grow up and speak out about their experiences growing up and consistently having a camera shoved in their face. These children have also mentioned their lack of consent and privacy in these videos and the effects it had on them in school, public, and a professional setting. 

In conclusion, it is important to be protecting children from the risks of Youtube and having their lives posted all over social media for money. Rather than teach children it is okay to grow up filming everything they do, let’s teach children the risks of the internet and hide them from the predators out there. The internet is a scary place and having no sense of privacy opens the door for millions to know everything about these kids when they are as young as a newborn. Children should be able to live a normal childhood and grow up without worrying about the repercussions of their parent’s actions. Audiences can do their part by not supporting these channels and educating themselves more on the negative impact family channels have. Let’s make the internet a safer, more mature space and protect young children from the internet.