Amid the devasting loss of Sister Wives star, Garrison Brown, fans are calling for TLC to reexamine their policies. Undoubtedly, fans are advocating for more protection of innocent children in their most formative years. Likewise, the fans believe that many of TLC‘s shows are exploiting children from a young age and should discontinue filming.
Fans Demand TLC Stop Exploiting Children
On Reddit in a Sister Wives forum, one fan kicked off a topic demanding, “No minors on reality tv.” This comes amid the horrific loss of Janelle and Kody Brown’s son, Garrison Brown to suicide. Additionally, the user says, “Without blame or judgement concerning the recent tragedy, I believe there should be a law against minors playing key roles in reality television. I’m thinking of this show, Duggars, Kate +8, Honey Boo Boo, that dance moms show, & others. Certainly the minors would be in the background footage, but no interviews or anything. It seems to never end well. 
.”
- “I agree… the child exploitation is disgusting.. TLC is the worst for it.”
- “Yeah, but then there wouldn’t be a show. Or the adults acting like they do in the Browns’ case would still eff up the kids when everyone sees how dysfunctional their parents are.
The only answer is no shows about families.”
Sister Wives Fans Discuss The Issue Further
After Garrison Brown’s passing, one of his friends pushed for the cancelation of the long-running series. While most Sister Wives viewers responded with agreement, they believe it is a tricky issue. But mainly, fans are disturbed by the continual gouging for personal financial gain. For instance, seeing families document childhoods and not giving children space to grow up with privacy.
- “Yeah, I agree. There’s also a big difference between ‘we’re doing a documentary about our alternative lifestyle’ versus ‘we’re going to be filming for years and centering large parts of our lives on this project,’ too. It’s not just the exposure once or twice, it’s the constant, repetitive nature of it and the fact that their entire childhoods are documented and exposed. Honestly, I’d apply the same argument to any of those ‘family’ influencer channels, because at that point, you are making the child part of the family’s revenue stream, and that, implicitly or explicitly, puts pressure on them to perform.”
Sister Wives Fans Suggest Ways To Help The Issue
Several Sister Wives viewers suggested that the best way to make a difference was to stop watching the show. Some fans have already decided to stop watching the series after the sad consequence with Garrison Brown’s situation. Others point out that some celebrities have already begun work to advocate for child actors and improve overall mental health treatment for reality stars.
- “Hollyweird has been exploiting children since it started. The best defense against children on reality TV isn’t more policy, it’s stop watching.”
- “Celebrities like Jennifer Garner and Bethenney Frankel have done a lot of work advocating for treatment of children in media and many lawmakers have been amenable to working for change.”
Some Sister Wives Fans Believe The Issue Needs Multiple Approaches
Some Sister Wives fans find the issue to be more complex and believe it would need a strategy that approaches the issues from multiple angles.
- “This is a problem that needs a top-down solution, not one that can be solved by individual responsibility. Yes, it would be good if viewers stopped watching this type of content. But mobilizing large groups of people for an issue like that is really difficult and not always effective. Boycotts can be great, but they require a large base of people already concerned about a certain issue, and there just isn’t that community yet. Even if there were, if there are still enough viewers/ad revenue that networks are making more than they’re spending, they will continue to put on that content. There wasn’t regulation protecting a child actor’s pay in California until the Coogan Act was passed. This wouldn’t be all that different.”
What are your thoughts on TLC‘s practices that are exploiting children? Do you believe it is an issue? If so, will canceling shows solve the problem? Do you think policy changes need to escalate to lawmakers? Or should people stop watching shows like Sister Wives to make their opinions known? Do you believe the shows give appropriate documentation for people to learn about families? Are you still planning to watch Sister Wives Season 19?
