Izzy Middlebrook

CHILDHOOD ON CAMERA. From rigorous film schedules to oversharing, family vlogger channels sometimes take it too far when filming children. This calls for more protections for family and child vlogging content and, overall, better parenting.

When you’re scrolling on social media, it’s very likely that you’ll find a variety of content like Nara Smith on her traditional style of parenting or maybe a family member posting their kid online. Chances are your own parents have shared embarrassing photos of you as a toddler that will be on their Facebook pages forever. Whether it’s those cringe-worthy photos of kids on a parent’s private account or your favorite celebrity posting a small part of their baby’s head, family life has found its way onto social media. No form of family media is more sinister and disputable than family vlogging because of the amount of exploitation going on behind the scenes of the children in these family channels.

Family vlog accounts share a sneak peek into different families’ daily lives. No matter how rehearsed they are, this form of content is ever popular and lucrative. These videos range in subject matter and intensity; from a day in the life video about having eight kids to posting the live birth of a family’s child to an audience of 3.3 million.

Recently, more children of these family channels have come out with accusations and confirmations of child abuse. In 2023 Ruby Franke, of the now obsolete family YouTube channel 8 Passengers, pled guilty to four counts of child abuse. She was well known in the YouTube community for her harsh parenting style, which included things like refusing her children food. However, this is not just a recent problem. In 2019, Machelle Hobson, host of the family channel “Fantastic Adventures,” faced 29 charges of child abuse, imprisonment and child neglect before her death. While it may seem like a coincidence, the parents on these channels go into content creation with an already harsh parenting style and are encouraged to keep posting when they get lots of likes and views on controversial videos.

These children are working all day without compensation. A viral TikTok, discussed in the News Statesman, shows a mother running a family channel letting her audience know that the family was going on holiday and she did not want her kids to be “working” so she would only post a couple of videos a day. She proceeded to scroll through nearly 40 different video concepts for the vacation and explain their daily filming schedule while on vacation, showing that, even when on a “break,” these kids are subjected to hours of time in front of the camera. This rigorous filming schedule prevents kids from experiencing a real childhood, rather they are surrounded by cameras to give the illusion of everyday life. This only isolates the children and makes their lives much harder.

Family vloggers post every detail of their children’s lives. As a three-year-old, you cannot exactly legally consent to have your formative years filmed, which is why many public figures blur their children’s faces out until they are old enough to understand the lasting effects of social media. Family vloggers take the opposite route. An example of this is Myka Stauffer, who adopted a baby boy from China and shared many details about his special needs, all while he was under the age of four. Myka later dissolved the adoption, but all of this information on him was still out there. When this kid is applying for a job or college, future employers and admissions officers are able to see his life from ages 1-4, including content about his special needs. For typical family vlogging channels, they have their entire life on display for people to see, without their consent.

While these channels may seem harmless to the viewer, the behind-the-scenes stories and impact on the kids of these families’ lives are drastic. The lack of privacy concerns and financial compensation for these children begs the question of whether watching these channels is even worth it. Child Labor Laws need to be updated to include the surge in child-centered social media content. This should include a cap on work hours and laws to ensure these children are being properly educated and safe in their homes. A right-to-be-forgotten addendum should be added. This states that even if a child has given consent to be filmed when they are eighteen, they can request social media platforms to delete all content of them as minors. The vulnerability of these children needs to be recognized and addressed.