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In a world where the allure of YouTube Family Channel seems irresistible, what lies beneath the glossy facade is a disturbing reality, one where children’s lives are put on display for profit, consent is often unattainable and the boundaries of privacy are pushed to the brink. Enter the unsettling world of YouTube Family Channel, epitomized by the controversial case of “8 Passengers.”
“8 Passengers” was a well-known YouTube channel that featured the lives of Ruby and Kevin Franke alongside their six children: Shari, Chad, Abby, Julie, Russel and Eve. This family channel accumulated over 2.5 million subscribers before it was deleted earlier this year due to controversy over Ruby’s parenting style.
On Aug. 30, forty-one-year-old YouTube mom, Ruby Franke, was arrested on two counts of second-degree child abuse. According to the Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety Department, a young boy climbed out of a window to a neighbor’s residence with duct tape on his ankles and wrists to get food and water. They identified this child as Russell Franke, the second youngest in the Franke family. Furthermore, the police also discovered Eve Franke in the residence, with both children malnourished and covered in wounds.
Just days before this incident, officials stated that Ruby Franke had filmed a YouTube video that consisted of her regular everyday content. Although the footage seemed “normal,” Russell and Eve were experiencing abuse during the time it was filmed. This contributes to the idea that many viewers are unaware of what goes on in reality. It also highlights how YouTube parents can prioritize gathering content over the health of their children. Ruby Franke was acting affectionately to her children in front of the camera to trick her viewers into liking and subscribing to her channel, when in turn, the opposite was happening.
“Eve is responsible for making her own lunches in the morning, so the natural outcome is she is just going to be hungry, and hopefully nobody gives her food and nobody steps in and gives her lunch,” Ruby Franke said to her subscribers.
With hopes of sharing her parenting strategies, Franke directly admits she intentionally let her youngest daughter, who was six at the time, starve at school because she forgot to bring her lunch. Franke expected her viewers to be able to learn from her; however, it only resulted in extreme backlash toward her actions. Franke’s comment section gained thousands of overwhelming hate comments about her incompetent parenting to show support for Eve instead.
Since 2022, the eldest daughter, Shari Franke, has publicly cut ties with her family due to the realization that her parents harmed her.
“Today has been a big day,” Shari Franke said. “Me and my family are so glad justice is being served. We’ve been trying to tell the police and CPS for years about this, and so glad they finally decided to step up.”
Before Shari Franke posted this on her Instagram story, the public did not know much about their situation or what they were experiencing. Due to Franke’s strict parenting, her children did not have free access to social media and were not able to post anything speaking on the topic. Many children can be afraid to speak up because they fear making things worse or feeling like they don’t have a voice. Seeing that Shari Franke posted this story after her mother was arrested shows that Franke’s children were held back from expressing their true feelings to the public. Ruby Franke’s sisters, Julie Derum and Ellie Mecham, later released their perspectives in support of the arrest, stating they spent years behind cameras trying to help the kids stay safe. With their opinions coming out after Franke had been arrested, it is clear to say that the viewers had no idea based solely on their YouTube channel.
While “8 Passengers” is just one example, there have been many other family channels experiencing the same controversy. In numerous cases, family channels fail to prioritize the mental well-being of their children by becoming caught up in making a profit. The troubling trend observed in family channels highlights the imperative for greater awareness that complex family dynamics often remain concealed behind the polished facade of YouTube content, urging for more stringent oversight to safeguard the well-being of the children involved in these digital narratives. Behind the allure of curated content lies a deeper concern, many family scenarios, marked by the hastening of children’s growth and the unspoken challenges, are often obscured.
