I recently received a comment from a reader that I thought was worth sharing as I agree with many of her points, however I feel that she and many others out there are still missing the point.  I am not a “hater”, and have nothing but sympathy and compassion for the Gosselin family, and I feel the same is likely true for the other bloggers out there.   Its amazing to me that there is such a divide between viewers of this show, and that the situation evokes such strong emotions for either side of the debate. While I agree that no one is perfect, and it isn’t fair or right to cast judgement, it is our responsibility as a society to look out for the welfare of all children (not just our own!).

I am not posting this comment below to “call out” the poster, nor do I believe there is a right or a wrong opinion here. I am simply hoping to encourage healthy debate and encourage you to join in to the discussion as well.   As well, if you would like to contribute to the site as a guest author, please contact me at steph@jonminus9.com

————————————

Tammy writes:

“This whole situation is sad. Its easy to judge a situation when you are not involved. Usually, and unfortunately the assumptions about people made by strangers are wrong and happen to be very destructive to the people they are about. This is a real family with real kids that will have to deal with all of this for the rest of thier lives. Even when things die off they will always be reminded in some way of what happened because people can be very cruel. I have read so many blogs and read so many articles written by people fueled with hate and making sure everything they have done wrong is publically known. But you know what, in all actuality every person, every family has faults and skeletons in thier closets. No family is exempt and if anyone tries to claim otherwise they are liars. Like the old saying goes, “Those who live in glass houses should not cast the first stone”. I am sure everyone of us could be scruntinized and be found guilty of doing something wrong in raising your family. We are human. We make mistakes. Instead of extending hate, how about extending help to this family if thier life and those kids are so important to all these judging strangers. Most of the people forcing thier ill opinions on this family will claim to be good christians, or whatever faith they believe in and I am sure JUDGEMENT does not look kindly in anyone’s faith. Its unfortunate that this part of thier lives has to be so public. Whether they are in compliance or not should not reflect them as parents or people. The kids are obviously well taken of by them. Its the public that is being destructive to these kids. They are the ones endangering thier welfare. Ironically its the ones pointing the fingers at Jon and Kate. So many families have marital problems and sometimes get divorced. That does not make them any less of a parent and it shouldn’t be in this case either. How would we like to be picked apart like this and have our kids subjected judgement and cruelty; having people trying to peek through our blinds and follow us through stores; having to worry every second our children are in school that no one tries to something stupid to them because of a marital issue with mommy and daddy. Whatever happens with this family should be left between them privately to deal with. Lets remind ourselves of what our faith tells us we should do when it comes to casting judgement and hatred to anyone. “Just my opinion””

———————————–

Hi Tammy,

While I completely agree with you that we all make mistakes (I am sure if I had millions of people tuning in to watch me parent on a weekly basis, it wouldn’t be perfect!), its not the day to day parenting of these children that is at question or whether or not Jon and Kate are loving and that these children are being provided for.

Jon and Kate Gosselin CHOSE to have cameras come in, they CHOSE to be scrutinized. The children have NO CHOICE. They cannot say “Please, I do not like everyone in America knowing everything about me. I do not want my friends and schoolmates watching me learn how to potty train.” You say that it is the public that is being destructive to these children. I 100% agree! So, Jon and Kate, shut the public out! I do not judge how Jon and Kate parent, but I do feel that these children are being EXPLOITED AGAINST THEIR WILL. I have no hatred towards this family, but a great deal of sympathy.

When I flip through the TV guide listings, I see more and more children suffering the same fate as TLC and other stations profit. Shows such as 18 Kids and Counting, Table for 12, and now even Nadya Suleman (mother of octuplets and sextuplets) will be getting her own show. All of a sudden these families of multiples are creeping out of the woodwork to sell their children for 15 minutes of fame.

I have no doubt that when these parents were first approached to do these shows, they had only the best of hopes and intentions for their families. Yes, the Gosselins now live in a beautiful home and Jon and Kate can stay at home and raise their children if they choose. But at what cost? Now that America is witnessing the damage that such exposure can have on a family, shouldn’t we be saying enough is enough and not developing MORE of these reality tv shows?? Its obvious that we as viewers do not have enough sense to stop watching, the drama is actually causing MORE people to watch, which in turn has caused TLC to order more episodes, which in turn will hurt these children even further. What needs to happen is for these television producers to see and read enough public outrage that they finally decide to stop pimping out these families.

Tammy, the more public awareness and anger exists about this issue, the better the chances that parents of multiples out there (or any parents) who are charged with the greatest responsibility of all, protecting their children, will read this and say “Hmm, maybe the rewards here don’t outweigh the risks”, or a television production company will say “No, we do not feel the need to profit off of the misery of others and exploit the most vulnerable of our society”.