[ Long time lurker. English is not my native language. Latin, south Europe and catholic family background. ]
My ̶t̶w̶o̶ couple of cents on Chad's issue and 7+1 Passengers:
I find this YouTube family to be quite dysfunctional, without healthy routines and most important without consistency. Consistency is the key!
If there was a serious issue with Chad, I would assume that a normal/typical family would move mountains to help and support him, i.e. no time to YouTube, at least to post so many videos. An expected reaction from the parents would be: "we will be away from YT for a couple of days/weeks/..." or "expect fewer videos". But no, Kevin goes into an intercontinental trip with his students (bye bye family!); after we have several videos with the family on a road trip (nothing particularly relevant), the home return (a couple of random videos), and suddenly, the video (Chad's needs a fix, here is our decision - btw it almost looked like a sponsored video). And back again to the regular schedule as the show must go on...
Shari's lately seemed (and said) that she was closer to her brother (which was not a "kid" anymore rather "Chad"), and it really let me believe that there was an healthy bond between the two.
Chad's body language on the assumption video and on many others on Shari's channel seemed relaxed and comfortable with the camera/topics. - IIRC some time ago Ruby said that Chad, as "all" teens, would probably be less often on camera, until the day he would be comfortable again to return. The same happen with Shari as there was a time she didn't want to be on camera and Ruby respected that, one day she "returned" to the family vlogs and she was happy again to be on camera.
Things that make me wonder, "Why?" :
- None of their children reply "I love you too", at least spontaneously.
- no favorite family activity (not TV/videogame, religion or school related).
- home cooked meals are a perk when they should be the norm.
- lack of emotional engagement and touch: the "thank you" is almost always said in a shy way, they do not kiss or give a true hug, be it parents to children or among siblings, even when they are apart for several days. Probably my latin/south european background, but I was used to say a warm good night/morning to my parents, grandparents and older siblings. I now expect the same from my kids. It is also a great bonding tool and later on the teen years to make sure that the goodnight kiss fulfils the established curfew and the alcohol and smoke test.
- most of the days the children look sleep deprived. I always remember Chad waking up in the very early morning to watch TV and I find it odd to happen, and even more to be on a vlog and no reaction from Ruby.
- we are in 2019, does Ruby (and Kevin, and many other YT families) really believe that they have the perfect bubble and that the young teens do not know how to bypass parental online limitations? Kids are curious, and the more you try to hide things the more they will want to see it... Or are they just playing the puritan/moralist role to get the credits among their religion community?
- family friends (not YT "friends") where are they? The same for the children, where are their best friends? And I mean their first name being mentioned, or some funny moments being told, not necessarily having them on camera for privacy reasons. Only the potential dating material gets to be on the vlogs... right...
- last but not least: I find that there are to many words said (and written on the whiteboard) on and among that family but not so much heart and feelings being shared!
Next year Chad might be having the first driving lessons and in less than two years he might have a car... Most probably he will keep having an absent dad... a control freak mother with total lack of consistency... a religion that is not easy to accept the difference nor being questioned, a super competitive big sister running for miss perfection award, a family YT channel that manipulates the reality, school pressure, friends and friendships that need to be nurtured... oh boy, it looks like he has an heavy backpack to carry.
Ruby's remember me one commonly used definition of insanity: "
doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."
Kevin... the lack of emotional intelligence, the absence, the runaway from one on one with his kids... Imagine if he had taken the time to do a trip with Chad (instead of Europe with pupils), not as a reward for poor behavior but as quality time for a son that needs help, shouldn't that be dad's job?!?
--
“It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.” ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince