Family Vloggers Are Monetizing Kids Without Consent
The moral and ethical issues of oversharing and exploiting kids for content
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There are a lot of family vlog (video blog) and general family channels on YouTube and other platforms. Tiktok, general written blogs and websites, Patreon, and more.
I understand the pull of showing every moment of your adorable child’s life online. I have tons of friends and family sharing pictures on Facebook and Instagram of their cute babies, toddlers, and older kids.
I “like” the photos because I love my friends and family and their kiddos.
But Facebook and Instagram parents simply sharing photos of their kids sometimes — especially on private accounts — are not the issue here.
It’s family vlog channels monetizing their children.
Major family vloggers include the (ugh) ACE Family, Myka Stauffer, the Labrant Fam, the Atwood Family, and so so many more. Here’s a blog that lists the top 100 family Youtube channels.
When you, as an adult, choose to put your life online, you are doing so out of your own free will.
When you, as a parent, are choosing to put your child’s life online, there is definitely some ethical and moral gray area.
Legally, you are the parent of a minor and can choose what to do with your child and their images online.
But morally and ethically, I personally think that there is some iffy-ness here.
And since Youtube family vloggers are not bound by child labor laws, they also are not required to pay their kids or give their kids any of the money made from these family channels. We have no way of knowing what is happening with the money and if the kids are being compensated in any way.
And I am not alone in these opinions.
Here are a couple of really good videos about family vloggers.
