Mom Criticized For Making Children Pay For Their Things With Cash Or Chores — Or Watch Them Be Thrown Away
Why would you make your kids pay for their own belongings?
@cancelutahvloggers / TikTok Infamous YouTube mom Ruby Franke is known for her scandalous parenting style thanks to the way she's treated her kids on their family vlog "8 Passengers."
Though the family hasn't posted anything new to their channel in over a year, Franke's old antics have started cropping back up on TikTok, and in one of the more recent ones, she tried teaching her kids a valuable lesson — the value of their items.
Ruby Franke put her kids' belongings in trash bags and threatened to throw them away if they didn't pay her back for them.
The video, posted to "@cancelutahvloggers" TikTok, showcased Franke holding her children’s items in a large garbage bag. She told her family that their belongings were in the bag as her son Chad yelled out, “that’s my homework!” and attempted to reach over the table. As he did, Ruby pulled the bag closer to her and shouted, "woah, woah, woah." She continued, saying “what, I have your attention now?” and flipped the camera to Chad and her daughters.
With the help of their father, Ruby addressed that her children will either have to pay cash for their items or do a chore that is equivalent in order to get them back. She claimed that this is a way to teach her children the “value of items.” Ruby made it clear that if they do not pay cash, or do their chore, their items will be thrown in the garbage at the end of the day.
People on TikTok questioned their invasive parenting style in the comments.
One person said, “It’s the fact that the parent even threatened to throw away homework just so they could get paid money.” Others said phrases like, “that's literally HIS homework that HE did and she’s making him pay for it.”
The discussion of Chad’s homework and school in general was a popular thread throughout the comment section with some who pointed out that, “she makes them pay her if they get below a B” in school.
They claimed that Ruby once took her daughter Abby's phone away and kept it for months on end because of a C on her report card and that she also took Chad's bed away for 7 months over a prank that he did on her, an act that led to a visit from Child Protective Services. These extreme ways of parenting could potentially lead to her children going no contact. In fact, in 2022 it appeared the Franke's daughter Shari was "not in contact" with the rest of her family.
Many questioned if they actually attempted to teach their children “lessons” and “values” or if they simply used their children for profit and entertainment purposes.
The YouTube family has been receiving intense backlash for a while now.
They have almost 3 million subscribers on YouTube and have a ton of videos on their channel which seem to be appealing to younger audiences — at the expense of their kids.
Chad said, in one of their videos, that his “bed was taken away for 7 months” and he was, “sleeping on a bean bag.” Ruby can be seen in the video laughing and smiling.
Many show concern for her children and how their parenting seems “neglectful.”
This form of harsh punishment parenting may lead to some severe emotional trauma for their kids, as they may not have learned appropriate punishments for their actions. Taking away a child's bed over a prank is not an appropriate punishment.
People mocked her, writing phrases such as, “‘Why don’t my kids talk to me?’” and said that Ruby’s parenting may lead to some severe consequences in the future as her way of parenting may have taught her children the "wrong" lessons.
The family has not posted to their channel in about a year and many people still question their parenting and how it may look off-screen.
Cortney Crowell is a writer and frequent contributor to YourTango from New Jersey who covers entertainment, news, and human interest stories.