By Staff
The Youtube channel, “8 Passengers” ran by mother of 6, Ruby Franke, comes to an eagerly anticipated end after Franke was arrested on two accounts of child abuse last week. The incident that sent this family’s account into a spiral took place August 30th when two of Franke’s youngest children escaped their home and rushed to the neighbors house seeking help. The neighbors immediately called the police. When the police arrived they noticed that their hands and feet were duct taped, as well as being reportedly “severely malnourished and emaciated”.
Though this report comes with a great level of shock, viewers of the channel may not be as surprised as the general public. Viewers familiar with the channel have been observing the mothers concerning behavior and parenting style preached on her social media platforms for years. Many outside viewers of Franke’s videos can see how her extreme parenting style can translate to what most people constitute as abuse.
Franke has publicly posted videos on her Youtube channel where she has disciplined her children for minor “misbehaviors”-such as waking up late for school or rough housing with siblings- with punishments of no dinner or the loss of their bed. One time in particular, Franke took away one of her eldest childrens entire room for seven months, leaving him to sleep on the floor of their living room simply due to a prank he pulled on his younger brother.
Not only were Frankes’ punishments for her children harsh and unreasonable, she also held expectations far too high for her young kids. When Franke was notified by a teacher that her four year old daughter had forgotten a lunch for school, she posted a ranting video regarding how irresponsible her daughter was for not packing her own lunch for preschool and refused to bring food for her child. These unreasonable expectations of her extremely young children lead to her older kids being forced to look after and care for their younger siblings at all times.
Although there is currently not much information available regarding the future for Franke and her family, her arrest will hopefully allow her extorted and traumatized children to soon regain a somewhat normal life after a childhood of constant fear and stress within their own home.
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