We watch life vlogs for many different reasons. It could be because it's really fun to watch people have more exciting lives than we have, it's entertaining to see how all the weirdness plays out without risking our lives in the process or a few good ones are just very inspiring and calming in so many ways.
In case you're not familiar, life vlogs are very casual video logs of people's daily life, travel or any other fun adventure. In the Philippines, there's tons of celebrities doing vlogs to maybe connect with their fans in a more relatable way or there's just a lot of financial benefit for often not very much effort compared to a full content production.
In this relatively large niche of life vlogs, we have a small chunk of it where the family vlog rises.
Families are more exciting in many ways but mostly because families have a special kind of chaos. In the past, I would binge watch them and I definitely followed quite a handful of them and watched their children grew up. However, as I grew older, I felt more and more uneasy of the concept of the entire thing.
Disclaimer: I know there are mums who think that those of us who have no children yet or others who choose to not have any children at all do not have an opinion because "You don't know what it feels like" but let me just reiterate that I am also someone's child so let's take that perspective and a little bit of how I would handle it hypothetically.
Why do parents do that?
This is the mother of all questions that I have with regards to family vlogs. My distaste for this type of content really started with a controversial family who adopted a disabled child abroad only to let him go or as they call it "rehome" when he got difficult and expensive. Then there's a slew of controversial families that have sketchy parenting techniques that even deprive their children of the basic needs. I thankfully did not support those very controversial ones in the past, but learning all those led me to ask...why do the parents do this? Why do they choose to air out their private or traumatic moments for the world to see? Why do they share their children's growth with the rest of the world?
From my point of view, the only two reasons I think people do this is for money and fame. All else is just holy BS.
I would not want that for myself as a child
...to be exact, my version at every age would not want that even now that I am an adult. Why would I want every single aspect of my life broadcasted? What if I was a child and then my classmates see what I do at home?
It would feel like always having a watchful eye even at the privacy of my own home. I think I would want as an adult to look back at the moments my parents have posted and want to take it back. There are family vlogs who happily post their childrens' tantrums, show how they would calm them down or even just the very mundane things. At the end of the day, it's the parents who will get the praises and what is left for the child - a tantrum immortalised for the world to see? What purpose does it serve, really?
I know there are children who have digital footprints larger than their current vocabulary.
And it's sad when you think of going back to the possible reasons why parents do this.
It's not even just the tantrums. Some parents even go as far as pranking their children, recording their reaction and surprise surprise, upload it on the internet. I personally don't like how pranks toy with one's emotions - worse is when that emotional roller coaster is broadcasted.
Consent
I came across a Reddit story which was like a confession of what it’s like to be a child in one of those channels. In the post, the child said that they would be recorded even if they didn’t want to. She also said that the only privacy that she had was her bathroom which needed to be locked and the lights turned off when she was changing. If you watch enough of these vlogs, you will know that this could really be the reality of a lot more other children.
It is already bad when the child is old enough to say no but are recorded anyway, it is much for worse for children who are not conscious what the recording was for and made public.
I think what some adults fail to understand is giving birth or having a child only makes them parents - not owners.
Children are not money making machines. They are not props to dangle in front of many people just for parents to gain attention or praise.
Others say that it is okay because the money will be used to invest in the child’s future. So it’s okay for the child to be exposed and be working at such a young age for his/her own future? Isn’t that the responsibility of the parent/s alone?
It’s really unfair for a child who has barely any understanding of the world to be exploited like this.
It's not their job to teach the world how to be good parents.
There is a local family vlog - it used to be a fashion/travel vlog but since the creator became a mother, it's just converted into a family content. I know their children are cute and smart. Some would even defend and say their content is harmless because the mum shows how effective gentle parenting is.
I used to agree to that too.
But I also realised that there should be other ways to learn how to be a good parent, right? Without exploiting their own children? Unless a child is the exact replica of the influencer child, showing the parenting style doesn't really serve much purpose or any at all. There are inspiring parenting techniques in books and there are even parenting experts who can be consulted. I just don't think it's necessary for mums to show their children. Every kid is different and if I would be a mother someday, I would most likely choose to tailor my parenting based on what my child is like and maybe if it gets too difficult, I would consult an expert or maybe even watch other mums' stories minus the child exploitation.
In conclusion, if you enjoy those content you are free to consume that all you want. I'm not here to judge your preference but I would not want to watch any of that again.
I have seen far too many controversies, tantrums, money hungry parents and I've also learned about adults who grew up in family channels that have now been scarred for life that I just flushed all of my interest for that content down the drain.
What do you think of family channels? Comments below are open for healthy, intellectual discussions.
