By: Leah
Edited by Harith Syafiee
In recent years, the idea of children being put into the spotlight of social media has been brought into question. Sure, one may embrace the ideology of ‘to each their own’, but the question remains; do children really need to be on the internet? In the case of vloggers and influencers, especially those who film their children at every waking moment, perhaps the answer should be no.
Recently, a family vlogger named Ruby Franke was arrested after her youngest son escaped the house and informed a neighbour of the horrendous living conditions in the house. The police were called and the children were taken into Child Protective Services. The sad reality is that there is almost a decade’s worth of evidence of Ruby’s abuse towards her children. She threatens to withhold their meals and punishes them for simply being children. One instance that stood out to me was when she ranted on camera about how her pre-schooler did not wake up on time for school and therefore was not able to go to school. She reiterates to her sobbing 4-year-old that it was the child’s responsibility to wake up. Many other instances throughout the family’s vlogging career draw speculation of abuse.
Another notable vlogging family are the LaBrants. In a family of (soon-to-be) 7 members, the eldest daughter seems to have gotten the brunt end of the stick. Everleigh, the daughter of Savannah from a previous relationship was taken out of public school at the age of 9 for the replacement of homeschool. This follows the couple’s announcement of their second pregnancy and third child. Savannah states that she needs a second set of hands when the new baby arrives. This raised some concerns by their fans who did not agree that Everleigh should be taken out of school to become a carer to her younger siblings. And that isn’t even the most controversial thing that they’ve done! The LaBrant family really love to click-bait in their titles and thumbnails, one of which made it appear that their toddler had cancer. Many fans have also pointed out that as the family continues to grow, the eldest daughter’s once bright personality seems to dim slowly.
In today’s technologically advanced age, artificial intelligence has come a long way. With it come the unfortunate uses as well. It has been reported that child predators use AI software to turn wholesome images of babies eating fruits into something more lewd. Babies in onesies are edited to appear naked, or in some especially disturbing cases, in lingerie.
A TikToker by the name of Caroline Easom does an excellent job of spreading awareness of family vloggers in the form of comedic skits. She tells the story of The Sandwich Family, who have 6 girls (one of whom is actually a boy). With children who are aged down for the sake of content and brand deals, the youngest child becomes aware of the absurdity of his situation when his babysitter states that she is a friend of the eldest child, who escapes the family. As the series progresses, the audience learns more about the family dynamic, with the older children having tasks and characters within their channels. The youngest child (although no longer a baby), is still portrayed as a toddler, doing brand deals for pull-ups, while Eliza (also known as ‘Silly’ on camera) plays the cancer-stricken daughter. Caroline embodies many vlogger families in her skits. She also speaks up about how even her child characters are sexualised. This opened my eyes to just how perverted certain individuals can be behind a screen, despite the actual age of the creators. Even depictions of children can be used as an adrenaline rush for child predators.
I’ve noticed recently that more and more influencers and celebrities are keeping their children off social media. This could be in the form of not showing their faces and or using pseudonyms to keep their names private. Although this may seem a bit extreme, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Comments