Shari Franke Speaks Out About Growing Up On YouTube | Big AHA MOMENT! 

Chad needs to come out with his story! Especially being sent away to be fixed…

This aged well. You were right, Ruby woke up and it was worse than I could’ve imagined or probably a lot of us imagined.

If sitting in jail doesn’t wake Ruby up, AND HER ENTIRE FAMILY; including her parents, then nothing ever will. So sad. Keep speaking out, Josh. It grabbed me and I’m sure it will others. 👍🏼

Josh please don’t stop speaking up about what your passionate about. From kid exploitation, religion, politics your voice is important

Everything Shari is sharing reminds me of my childhood in IBLP/the Duggar cult. HUGE props to her for speaking out. It sounds like she’s still deconstructing, figuring things out, and realizing just how harmful connections was.

Thanks so much, I have been itching to hear someone address and be harsh about these appalling concepts- it’s SO satisfying to hear you say things I’ve been thinking and to see that people are watching! I hope we as a society can quickly lift the blindfold and protect our children since many parents unfortunately aren’t equipped to do so themselves 😢

Im an ex Mormon. Everything you said about the religion is very on point hence why I left.

I will never forget watching one of the 8 passenger vlogs several years ago where they went to a different type of church than an LDS church and you would have thought they were being asked to slaughter an animal or something. They looked so uncomfortable. I can't imagine being in a place where you have so little experience of the real world that normal things are uncomfortable.

I really feel for Shari. BYU was not her first choice of school. She was accepted to big schools in Boston and DC. You could tell in the vlogs she really wanted to go to Boston. It was clear her parents influenced her to go to BYU. I too feel she’s questioning the Mormon religion. I’m so glad to see her starting to pave her own way. A lot of kids never make it to this kind of realization. Karli from our family nest did a video where she touched on growing up on RU-vid. She said she didn’t feel expoilted but did do a video about a very scary stalker story. Even if kids really are okay with this scary dangerous things can still happen.

I was waiting for your coverage on this! I saw someone do a short video about it this weekend but always love hearing your POV.

I'm 13 years older than my 3 siblings and when they started wanting phones I sat down with my dad and flat out showed him what you can do and how vast the internet is. He didnt grow up with the net, although I didn't either, but it hit big when I was about 20. I just know my dad and I knew he wouldn't want them to have that kind of access but I also knew he had no clue. He told me a couple of years later that it had scared him and thanked me. So he monitored their phones very well. They didn't like it, but now they are adults with kids themselves and they understand. I don't know why more parents aren't worried about predators. Not only that they are making videos that catch their attention. It's pretty dang scary out there.

Thank You! Your commentary on all of it was spot on! I was raised Mormon and left to be happy and not feel judgmental (my parents still very into the church- out of 8 children my parents had only 2 of them left in church) Thank you for the comments on parents and social media. Well done 👏🏻💯

Making dinner and watching. Don’t worry, I’m making sure to wash my hands and not wipe my nose. Also, their daughter reaching out about the cult Connections is so sad.

Great that you featured this interview, Josh. Thanks!

Josh, (I’m your age) you are so right as far as being raised a very fundamental Christian home. I was raised as a catholic and very strict. I have some experiences from the “church” that now as a parent will never let my children feel or experience what I did. We have thought our kids about God but not in the way of the church is now. Our God is all merciful, gracious, forgiving and loving not asking you for $, shame and guilt as I felt as I was growing up. I hated myself because I always felt I was never good enough.

The oldest child from The Rich Life (now called ItsRLife) moved out of the house. I can't wait for her to tell her family's vlogging story. Shari is just the beginning.

100% protect your children from the influence of social media. Yes they may see things when they aren’t around you but you still need to try. My oldest (now an adult) was really angry at how strict we were with it all. But now he has told us he’s glad we tried to protect him in that way.

Shari, in some of the older vlogs, was counting the time until she left for college since she was 15 or 16. That says a lot about Rubys parenting.

I can’t waaaaaait for Chad to feel so inclined. Just like she did. Come on Chad. Release all that toxicity. Publicly. So I can hear all about Ruby.

Thank you for talking about an appropriate age of when to first get a phone!! Or any technology, for that matter…especially portable. People think we are crazy. But you’re right, in the end, they’ll thank us. My brothers & I certainly thanked our parents once we were mature enough to realize all we fortunately “missed out” on 👏🏼

I’m an “elder” gen Z and have taken steps to delete social media. My husband and I have already said that if/when we have children, social media will be a big no- especially sharing their private info on our accounts. Very grateful to have the script for a conversation like that from you already, whether we follow it 100% or not!

I just want to hug Shari and all children who have been affected by this side of social media. The exploitation is huge and so incredibly REAL! These children didn’t have the correct and necessary guidance, love, attention because it was all business. It was an act, a play, a façade for a quick buck. And for what, really? 🥺

Thank you for covering this family, I pray all the kids get the justice they deserve 💕

My parents did a lot wrong. But they always kept me as far away from religion as they possibly could, and for that I am eternally grateful. I hope this young lady can heal. She’s quite brave and I feel speaking out was necessary for her. She should be proud and I hope things for her continue to go up, as she continues to heal.

Hi Josh, my husband grew up in an extremely religious family. His mother made him feel guilty for wanting to have friends or a job growing up. Even after he graduated from high school, she was manipulative. For example, she tried to ground him (at 21 years old) and tried make him feel guilty for having a night time job. Then when he moved out and his parents demanded a key to his apartment as well as make a scene because he was twenty minutes away. Things got even worse after we got serious. They expected us to have a marriage like them. You know, the woman was supposed to be subservient to the husband. We moved out west after she passed and parts of his family are still mad. Just because his mom never got over him moving away. They made my smart, kind husband anxious with self esteem issues.

I feel so bad for her 😔😔 I hope she gets into therapy if she isn't already in it.

I’m so glad I came across this. I’ve been so frustrated with churches perverting the word to influence dangerous ideologies that have no business being brought up while reading verses to children. Thank you!! Stick up for the kids. Always!

I didn’t really watch 8 Passengers but I’d hear that Shari was a mini-Ruby. Honestly, I think she was just trying to survive her childhood and knew that if she was like her mom, she would get through it all.

Raise children with love and good values convo was so relieving to hear

I had safe strict parents growing up, and when you said “they may hate you, but I DONT CARE!” Hit me so hard! My parents were like that and I appreciate them so much now as an adult! You are an incredible father. In fact I almost wish my parents were slightly more strict, even though they were the toughest in the group. They raised us to their values and my sisters and I turned out happy. The nice thing was if we wanted to hang out with each other it was at my house every time because my parents always wanted to know what we were doing, and me being the wild one of the bunch really needed that. I am so thankful for them keeping us close and safe. I am blessed to say I have never felt unsafe in any way because of them. ❤

I’m with you Josh on your parenting stance. Some parent are so afraid to tell their kid no or that they will hate them that they let them do whatever they want. It’s worse not to set boundaries.

The audience determines how they raise their children.....Wow! That hit HARD..... How awful!

12:30 was so true as a 16 year old i 100% agree with you. i thank you for doing that for your children, i had free access to all social media at the age of 9. its so sad to see how much it affected me and everyone around me my age

About the cell phones! My parents didn't get me one til I was 18 as a gift (I paid for my monthly bill). I did thank them a few years later after I had children. My oldest child is 7 and I already have to deal with her wondering why she doesn't get to have a cellphone because many of her friends do. Why are we giving 7 year Olds the responsibility of a smart phone?! Very sad

Thank you for your videos, I don't feel so alone and not letting my kids at 6,8,10 years old have a social media presence. Over the weekend had a falling out with my "family", because they don't see the harm in unlimited social media at a young age ....

HI JOSH THANKS FOR WHAT YOU DO.I DONT WATCH ANY OF THESE CHANNEL I JUST LOVE YOUR CHANNEL.

My husband and I have always said no phones till highschool and even then it's with rules and restrictions!! I've watched the harm of social media and I will not let my kids be apart of if I can. I'm so thankful my husband and I share values with our kids.

I've been waiting for this video. So eye opening

I’ve been waiting for this one, Turn it up!!!!

Josh get a Gabb for you're daughter it's a parent control phone. You can monitor her. And it doesn't have any apps. All it does is call, text, and have a calculator

I hope Chad can speak out and tell courts what was going on. He can talk to judge alone in private.

You’re wrong about homeschool. You have a very myopic view of what it is. Maybe you’re speaking to very fundamental religious homeschooling. That’s a very small representation. My homeschooled son had more “real world” experience when he graduated than most do. He was a barista at a local coffee shop, volunteered at a museum (where he did lots of things including teaching elementary students stem classes) volunteered at a food pantry, did sports, acted in plays, etc. He got a lot more “real world” experience than being stuck with the same kids, same age, 7 hours a day. My unsocialized homeschooler 🤣is about to graduate with a Business degree from the best business college in our state. It’s not for everybody. But homeschooling can be a wonderful experience.

Hey hey Josh, I homeschool but my child is super social. Probably more social than regular school kids. Homeschooling has changed in the last few years. There's definitely homeschoolers that stay in a box though and it's sad.

Thanks for the early release!

OMG… when you said that when kids get away from their families they become someone completely different and developmentally arrested- that describes me exactly. My parents are fundamentalist Christians and they think that because I’m different now secularism got to me and they are “disappointed” in who I am 😢 which is super depressing bc this is who I actually am

My parents weren't well versed in our catholic faith but when I went to college, I still loved my faith enough to go to mass on campus. I played violin in the choir too. In our marriage prep classes, I learned more about my faith and then tuned into Catholic radio. Catholic Answers live really taught me so much I never knew. Still always learning but I'm happy. I'm trying to pray more and still working on being a better mom and wife.

Looking back on this now, this conversation would be a complete 180 after finding out about what has happened to the younger kids. The language and things Shari shared about what conneXions was teaching. CRAZY!!!! Thanks Josh!!

Thank you to the family that took Shari in like she was their daughter. That is since since her family didn't want to have a relationship with her.

Your sweet pup in the background is everything. Lol Living the best life. ❤️

Thank you for your raw, cutting and completely insightful and honest speaking . Your realizations and words cuts to the chase. As a parent who grew up in Catholism with all its fears, I've realised from your speaking how damaging my concepts and subsequent raising of children, who were subject to my frame of mind,has been. I would love to post you a book if you are willing to read it

I have 2 grown children an 8yo son and 8yo granddaughter and have had 13 foster kids. Instead of making your children hate you and driving a huge wedge in your bond. Cuz it will every teen has a phone!! When you feel they're old enough let them get a cell phone With parental controls! My husband tried to To do the same thing with the phone and it back fired so bad!! Our son was 13yo And just completely hateful Started feeling like an outcast at school Grades dropped It was a rough!! And completely unnecessary There's so many parental controls!! They will also see and hear about it at school!!

I don't think it's fair to say that Shari didn't have empathy because it wasn't taught. She showed empathy over the years towards her siblings. The cult saying she wasn't empathetic was about the cult. Not about her never being taught empathy.

Wow. That is terrifying that the ONLY dictator of what the kids get to experience (in vloggers families) is what the AUDIENCE wants to see!! I can’t even imagine growing up like that! The kids almost never get to have fun or educational experiences because the audience usually finds that boring. VERY good point Josh.

Watching this on 3/31/24… WOW! This is even CRAZIER now that Ruby’s journals have come out.

I've been waiting for this!

I agree with every single word said here, Josh! And I am also just as scared. 100%

I was born in 98 and so I remember FB being huge and IG becoming a platform, along with snap chat. I only had the slide phones by my parents. My mom would not let me download any social medias when I got the first rounds of i touches. For the longest time I didn't have FB when all of my friends did, and they could log on at the computer after school and talk to each other. I also didn't get Instagram until I was honestly 15 or even 16. I also wasn't even allowed to get Twitter until I was around my junior year of high school, and I didn't get FB until I was a full grown adult in my 20's. Did it upset me as a kid that I couldn't have these platforms when all my friends did? Yes, but I am so grateful my parents protected as much as they could until I became older.

My daughter regularly is angry at me , for not allowing her to have any social media or a phone. All her friends have it and I know the dangers of it and she can’t handle it. Thank you Josh for making this decision for your kids. I hope to see a wave of new parents doing this also.

As someone who was groomed online starting at the age of 10/11, kids need to be protected online!!! I’m now a mother of two, and the amount of creepy people out there preying on children is TERRIFYING. My children will be protected no matter what, I couldn’t live with myself knowing they are in danger

100% agree with you! So glad you do what you do. No one is perfect and anyone who claims to be and says they have all the answers is a HUGE red flag!

Don’t lump all or even most homeschoolers into a group like that. Extreme religious homeschoolers? Probably so. But where we live, if you walk into the soup kitchen, or any other community involvement activity that’s happening throughout our town, you’ll see mostly homeschool kids helping, volunteering and interacting with society. Our local soup kitchen serves meals Monday through Friday from 11am to 1pm. My homeschooler is out volunteering and interacting with people of all ages while her same-age counterparts are stuck in an isolated classroom with the same 25+ kids every single day for 7-8 hours. My daughter sees way more of and interacts with the “real world” and society than most other 11 year olds who sit in a classroom all day witnessing bullying and negative behaviors/influences provided by some of the pubbies. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I just want to say thank you so much for your videos. I was raised up in a super Christian household, homeschooled, and never given a choice. Once I left home, I left the church, religion as a whole, and excommunicated my family for several years. (I’m 23 now and left home at 17). I’ve just recently reconnected with them after several years of trauma and addiction because I. Was. Not. Prepared. I had no idea what REAL life was like. My dad ALWYAS fought for me (parents were divorced) and always exposed me to as much as he could at appropriate times, but it still wasn’t enough and I spent so much time being guilted into not believing him that I was sucked back under the control and influence of “if you sin, you die” Thank you, thank you, thank you for advocating for others as well as opening my own eyes to soooo many things that I STILL thought we normal but were not

I wish the podcast they did was visual too. I can hear the pain in her voice. I just wish we could see her facial expression when she talks about this whole situation !

Thank you josh!!!! My daughter is 14 and still doesn’t have a phone and I’m so sick of hearing people berate me. Oh I’m depriving her? How? 🙄😵‍💫

My kid had tiktok. Now is gone and never coming back. Thanks for open my eyes. 🙏

Yes finally someone said it about kids being on social media! And social contagion, with that I hit subscribe

I love your wrap up speech here! Bravo!!

This family reminds me so much of my spouses. My mother in law is a life coach and they joined a very cultish group similar to ConneXions. It’s crazy how similar this family is to my in laws. They’ve been trying to get me in on it for awhile so that I can “speak” their language, but I refuse to go to their cult like group meetings.

i love watching you josh! i would watch the dougherty dozen all the till i found you and i saw you talk ab other families too and i use to think sheri was a b but after hearing her and seeing your videos made me think differently. you’re doing a great job keep talking about what needs to be heard, i love how blunt you are.🤣

💯 on kids not having internet. My oldest is 12; has a phone to call and text but has zero social media. Studies show it I’d damaging to a child’s self image, to constantly be edited. My child asked constantly but I rather be “overprotective” when it comes to this matter

Wow!! Love this video 👏

Exactly with you on no internet for kids. Exactly with you on protection of kids from lifelong irreversible decisions.

Please don’t stigmatize homeschooling like that! There are so many secular homeschoolers & robust groups & programs that help kids take the hours they would have wasted at school & get real life experience instead. Strict fundie homeschooling is different but to say that of all homeschooling is unfair

I want some merch so bad I love your channel. You are hilarious when you do your commentary 😂 good Job 🎉

I just need to say I’m Mormon but I fucking love you dude 🤣 I’m definitely a new sub!!

I was with you until you brought up homeschool kids, Josh. Forced association isn’t socialization. Saying homeschool kids won’t be prepared for the real world is such a stereotype.

You should cover their FAQ/assumptions video if it’s still up. It’s devastating to see the kids, especially Shari, defending that they were a happy family and then see how broken things are now.

Thank you Josh for common sense. I also have started not care of getting hate or whatever for common sense. I share my thoughts about toxic influencers and toxic modern femininity and females as well as well as gender stupidity !

Awesome! I agree with everything you said! ❤

You know this is all well and good, but she’s now being featured in all her aunts vlogs!

I hope Shari can find happiness and familiarity among those who are positive and beneficial to her well-being.

There need to be laws against exploiting children for profit online immediately!! 🥺

Glad your covering this!

Josh, Have you ever covered Jordan Paige? She was called out so much on RU-vid she just does Instagram lives or stories now. I promise you at least 3 of her children will write a book when they grow up.

I had my first phone in 8th grade and excess to the internet and it got me in so much trouble with legal things because of what I would post and messed me up when I’m 19 now bc of the things I would read and watch at such a young age

you spoke so much truth in this video

wow and we thought chad was gonna move out and expose them this all happened faster than i thought it was it's sad

Her story gives a cultu Scientology vibe. Goes me shivers.

Personally, I saw the "she goes to our ward" comment as something akin to saying "she goes to our church", "we were neighbors", "we grew up together", "we went to school together", etc. something that shows that they know her, so it lets the audience know that they know Shari and possibly have for a while. But that's just me. Very eye-opening podcast overall, though. Keep up the good work, Josh.

I have teen boys. Despite being an IT nerd myself, they didnt get cellphones, tablets, video games, or computer access at home until they were 13+16 and pandemic hit, and even then… its my job to be monitoring what adults do online at work. My kids aint getting away with any BS

I agree with most of what you said however you said if you're considering giving your child a phone, don't... To keep them safe. That's not exactly true either. As a mother of kids who are now 25 and 30-the world wasn't good then but is most definitely worse now-having a cell phone could help identify where a child is if they've been kidnapped. You just never know when it could save a life!! One time my daughter stayed after school for a dance when she'd been told she couldn't because I couldn't pick her up. My son got home before her but didn't realize she wasn't home because he was listening to music - being a kid. I called to check on them from work and just happened to need to ask my daughter a question. My son went to look for her upstairs and realized she wasn't home yet. Her bus ran about an hour before that. I totally panicked!! I did lots of calling, lots of praying, she ended up being safe.. And grounded lol. But what if she'd been kidnapped? What if she missed the bus and left at school with no phone? The list goes on. I heard a story of this girl who was kidnapped, put in the trunk of a car and got rescued BECAUSE of her cell phone. She dialed 911, talked to the police and they were tracking her and ended up being rescued. A phone SAVED HER LIFE! Not ALWAYS a bad thing. You can control their apps and Internet. You can't save them once they're dead.

I need more preacher Josh 👏🙏 this video was great

Looking forward to this 1

Thank you for briefing talking about Mormonism and how wrong it is. He is absolutely right. I was born and raised in the Mormon church. I have religious trauma from all i experienced. When I left the church at age 17. I turned to the Bible and everything I was taught in that religion is completely different than the Bible teaching. It is not Christianity, they have changed and removed Bible verses to appease the Book of Mormon. They are becoming one of the wealthiest religions in the world, for a reason. It's all about the money. (Just an example of that) My brother and his wife were married in the temple. In order to attend that temple ceremony, you have to have your temple recommend from your bishop which basically states that you're doing your part to be a good Mormon, paying your tithing etc. Well, my sister in laws dad who was struggling financially , and helping pay for his daughter's wedding was 6 months behind on his tithing, his bishop would NOT give him his temple recommend. Which prevented him from watching his daughter get married in the temple which is a HUGE ceremony for the Mormon faith. It means everything in their religion. He was down in the room with all of us that were not "temple worthy" BECAUSE HE COULDN'T PAY HIS TITHING!!!! It's all about the money. That's just 1 example of MANY I have about the Mormon church and my 43 years of experiences from a member and non member perspective. If these sweet missionaries come to your door to talk to you about the LDS religion, kindly say "No thanks" and shut that door.. ok. Off my tangent😂

Let the adults take over here!!! I agree with this video 1,000%!!!!! I’ve learned and understood so much from this! As a mother of 3 I praise you for your honesty!!

Stop accusing Sheri of being the problem and putting blame on her for her religion… She is still a Young adult and still learning how to become a person on her own after disconnecting from her family… She is very brave to be coming on his podcast like this and talking about her family when she could be receiving backlash from them… Even though their opinion doesn't matter what they say still hurt

I saw a clip the other day where Ruby talked about not speaking to her kids and that she’s okay with it because they aren’t living in truth and how everyone who meets her loves her and how if you lie to her you don’t love her or something like that

It was good to hear from Shari an honest take on what it was like having a camera in her face in key developmental years. I’m glad she wasn’t afraid of her parents in going public with that. When I saw that after she moved out she still had a YT channel, I was disappointed. My hope was that she would break free from YT and not continue to put herself out there. I realize she’s an adult and can fully consent to doing that, but I guess I hoped that she would choose to live a more private life and not feel like she has to feed content to the followers gained from the family vlog. I see though she has barely posted and has almost half a million subs. I hope she continues to just lead a normal life and stay off YT.

Hey josh love your videos always keep up the good work and getting word out

I just realized this video came out before the arrests. You were spot-on before we all even knew the depth of this tragedy. Bravo.