More and more YouTube stars have been coming out with stories of their disturbing reality as of recently. YouTube is generally a new concept, having only been around since 2005. Therefore, the effects of internet presence and the behind the scenes of content creation on children haven’t been studied much.
Piper Rockelle is a child YouTuber who currently has 12 million followers on the platform. Her videos usually revolve around pranks, boyfriends, drama, and challenges; however, there’s been suspicion among viewers for a while that something wasn’t quite right. Even young Rockelle knows that her audience is eager to find out the truth of her online career as she plays with the idea of writing a tell-all book which received over 5 million views and extremely encouraging feedback.
More and more of Rockelle’s friends who became known as The Squad of YouTube have begun to speak out about questionable behavior from Piper Rockelle’s mother, Tiffany Smith, who managed and directed all content produced by her daughter. In 2022, 11 members of the The Squad filed lawsuits against Smith claiming exploitation and that Smith created emotionally, physically, and sometimes sexually abusive environments for the kids.
While Tiffany Smith publicly denied these allegations, Netflix is releasing a docuseries April 9, 2025, titled “Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing,” which will expand on the mistreatment of the kids affected by Smith’s actions and their personal stories. Squad members hope to bring awareness and justice by sharing their personal experiences regarding their childhood friend’s mother.
Sophomore Satvi Patel agrees that there should be an age restriction to when a person can become an influencer and produce their own content.
“I think it should be 18 because by that time you’re an adult and you can watch out for yourself,” said sophomore Satvi Patel.
Today, technology makes it so easy to cut and crop content to appear any way that the editor wishes. The recent documentary released just four weeks ago covering the YouTube family channel, “8 Passengers,” shocked the nation as the public learned about the extreme abuse that occurred off camera.
Everleigh LaBrant from popular family vlogging channel, The LaBrant Fam, was taken out of traditional school at approximately 11 years of age to help take care of her siblings. Her mother, Savannah LaBrant, said, “I want to homeschool Everleigh to have a second set of hands at home when the new baby comes.”
Viewers are concerned for Everleigh’s quality of life at home as many YouTube families seem to use having more children to stay relevant online. Her parents admitted that they did not consider the workload of raising more kids, and fans are displeased that their daughter doesn’t have the opportunity to live a normal childhood.
Because YouTube is still new to the world, the effects it has on young stars are not yet known. But one thing is for sure: families need to be cautious about how much of an internet presence they allow their children to have. Being in the public eye at such a young age could damage a child in unimaginable ways.
