Here's the description of tomorrow night's hour-long episode. You'd never know the turmoil this family is going through from the promos TLC has been playing ad nauseum all weekend. It's all one big happy family, the Gosselins and TLC. Or Kate and TLC, that is:
"Jon & Kate Plus 8 Viewers' Top Moments: Kate takes a walk down memory lane as she looks back at viewers' favorite moments from Jon & Kate plus 8 and helps the audience countdown some of the best moments on the show." (Played to perky happy-wappy music, of course.)
Jon is suing TLC and TLC is suing Jon. Meanwhile TLC continues to squeeze more episodes (ie: more revenue) out of this family until they get all the legal details settled. What I wonder about both sides is, if you really care so much about the kids, why don't you call A Minor Consideration in to testify? Let the real experts ~ adults who have experienced being on television as children, as well as the real-life long term outcomes ~ tell it like it really is.
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Werny Gal politely blogs about fellow Wernersville PA residents Jon & Kate Gosselin, with occasional spurts of snarkiness. Werny Gal believes Kate has a right to follow her entertainment dreams but she should leave the kids out of it. She got famous on their wings: Now it's time for her to fly on her own. IT'S ALL ABOUT THE KIDS. Comment moderation is ON.
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Werny Gal
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Werny Gal
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Blog Guidelines
No bullying or threats allowed.
No putting down other sites or bloggers.
Most comments by "anonymous" are deleted. Your comment is more likely to be published if you own it.
What This Blog Is About
When the Gosselins moved here I'd never seen J&K+8 and didn't get what the fuss was all about. As time has gone on I've become more aware of how unreal this "reality" show really was. I've worked for children's rights for years and totally missed the boat on this one. I never realized that children in reality TV are exploited as much as, if not more than, children in other forms of entertainment. Now I know. I believe that Kate has the right to follow her entertainment dreams but she should leave the kids out of it. She got famous on their wings: Now it's time for her to fly on her own. The kids have grown up their entire lives under the cameras. Now they should be allowed to enjoy the remainder of their childhoods camera-free, while they still have some childhoods left.
No putting down other sites or bloggers.
Most comments by "anonymous" are deleted. Your comment is more likely to be published if you own it.
What This Blog Is About
When the Gosselins moved here I'd never seen J&K+8 and didn't get what the fuss was all about. As time has gone on I've become more aware of how unreal this "reality" show really was. I've worked for children's rights for years and totally missed the boat on this one. I never realized that children in reality TV are exploited as much as, if not more than, children in other forms of entertainment. Now I know. I believe that Kate has the right to follow her entertainment dreams but she should leave the kids out of it. She got famous on their wings: Now it's time for her to fly on her own. The kids have grown up their entire lives under the cameras. Now they should be allowed to enjoy the remainder of their childhoods camera-free, while they still have some childhoods left.
About Me
- Werny Gal
- I live in Wernersville PA with my husband and children. I am a counselor and I am not the Gosselin's counselor. Counselors have opinions too. I love making a house a home, kindness, wittiness, antiques, good friends, and popcorn. I love anyone who makes me laugh. I hate unicorns and rainbows.
17 comments:
Just found this blog. Do you know Kate? Are you a former friend? Have you contacted the gals at gwop?
Hi Anon, No, I don't know Kate and have never known her or Jon. I live in Wernersville and hear a lot of scuttlebutt about them, and I'm concerned about the children. If you read back you'll also find that I am a survivor of child abuse and have worked in child advocacy over the years. I work as a mental health counselor in Reading. Thanks for stopping by, and if you comment again would you please assign yourself a name? Any name will do. It will help us differentiate between all the "anons" who post here.:)
p.s. Yes, I have seen gwop and I think I have a link to them on this page. But I am just an individual, not affiliated with anyone else. Just a Gosselin neighbor doin' her own thang!
Hello, Werny Girl. I was "anonymous" in the first comment. I'll sign my questions with Mocha.
Thanks for answering my question. As a mental health counselor, don't you have an obligation to report abuse of children when you see it? What would happen if I called CPS anonymously, do you know?
I couldn't find the posts where you describe yourself as a child abuse survivor. What month should I look in?
I do find this blog very interesting...
Werny Girl, Mocha Anonymous sounds like a real troll to me. She is probably a hag from the Imperfect Women blog so don't bite! She mentions GWOP and is looking into weird personal info about you. The last sentence above "very interesting..." is very suspect. They like to discredit anybody who challenges Kate Gosselin, but they are not partial.
Have a nice day. Look forward to reading more info from Wernersville.
HI Mocha and Kimmie.
Mocha, I've mentioned it somewhere in here but I'm not sure where. Near the beginning of my posts, I believe in the comments, I said I was a child abuse survivor and did public speaking on a national level related to child advocacy. I've been on over 20 TV shows discussing issues such as child abuse and recovery isues such as ptsd. But on this blog I am just a person living in Wernersville.
If I saw child abuse in person or if a child disclosed it to me I would legally have to report it because I'm a mandated reporter in PA, but even if I wasn't mandated I would still report it. In the case of the Gosselins, I have never seen anything other than what most people have seen on the show, although I personally believe that just having the kids on the show is child abuse in the first place, due to the inherent exploitation and all of the unhappy circumstances involved. (To show a contrast, I do not believe the Roloff children are being exploited like the Gosselin children are.)
To my knowledge the Gosselins have been reported and investigated in PA and any reports of abuse were termed unfounded. This was in the news months ago.
Thanks to public awareness due to groups like A Minor Consideration, CA has developed laws to protect children who are in entertainment. PA has no such laws. Parents who are in entertainment here can use their children any way they want to because children here are consider the property of their parents rather than being separate entities with their own rights. Go poke around the A Minor Consideration site and you can learn a lot about the Gosseline situation from the experts on child exploitation in the entertainment industry.
Yes, Kimmie, there are those staunch Kate defenders. I can't figure it out, but it happens! :)
Thanks for stopping by.
I don't really know what to say to Kimmie. Do I have to respond to her to ask other questions? I hope not. I do find this blog very interesting...
Thanks for the background information Werny gal. I didn't read the comments. I was just reading the posts. I thought I missed a post on your experiences. I have heard that term "mandated reporter" a while ago- that's what I meant about having to report abuse. I didn't ever read that the Gosselins were investigated. I was wondering why not if there is a law requiring it. One thing I didn't undertand from your answer is that you think the kids are abused too so you did or did not report it? Do you know where I can find the report? Thank you very much, I will read more...
Inmy opinion the Gosselin kids are being exploited, which is a form of abuse. I am a mandated reporter in the Commonwealth of PA because my job brings me into regular contact with children here. (In PA, anyone is a mandated reporter whose work "regularly and normally brings them into contact with children".) However, due to the circumstances (no laws are being broken, I don't know the Gosselins, there are no bruises or discernable evidence of abuse, etc.) I am not mandated to report the Gosselins.
I don't know who reported them but they were investigated and the report was determined unfounded. It could have been anyone, anywhere. Evenm a viewer of the show in Hawaii for all we know.
Anyone can make abuse reports and they are always confidential. Confidentiality assures that people will feel safe enough to report it. This means if your neighbor beats his kids you can report it and there's no way he can find out you're the one who made the report. Each state differs slightly in it's child abuse laws, but confidentiality in reporting abuse is protected under the law in all fifty states.
Hope this helps. What do you think? Do you think they are being exploited, and do you consider it abuse?
I am worried for those kids. I'm not sure if its abuse. Exploited, yes. The kids are the whole point of the show so thats definitely exploitation. I'm not an abuse expert like you are so I wondered why if experts think its abuse how they can stay on the air for five years. I know I've read other experts online say its abuse but I don't understand how it can be but its unfounded. Also how do you know about a report if its cnfidential? If you are connected to the case and can't talk about it, I understand. Thank you.
Hi Mocha, the investigation was in the news so it's common knowledge (see link below - it was a child labor investigation, not an abuse investigation.) Someone had to have made a claim in order for there to have been an investigation. When there's an investigation, the claim of abuse may be concluded substantiated (founded) or unsubstantiated (unfounded.) Because there are no laws in PA protecting children in entertainment, I am guessing the only way the case would have been founded/substantiated would have been if there were bruises or other overt signs of abuse. And other than Kate swatting one of the kids on the butt, which everyone saw on the cover of a tabloid magazine, to my knowledge there's never been any indications of physical abuse or neglect.
I am only telling you what I know as a mandated reporter in the Commonwealth of PA. I know nothing of the particulars of what they were investigated for, who reported it, or what the child services workers found during their investigation. When it comes to the Gosselins, I'm just a regular citizen like everyone else.
I think we can all agree the Gosselin kids have their basic physical needs taken care of - they have adequate housing, food and clothing. The kind of abuse I am concerned about - emotional or psychological, like when kids who are too young to be capable of informed consent have their lives invaded by cameras - is much harder to substantiate than physical abuse. Hopefully I am wrong and in ten or fifteen years the Gosselin kids won't be smoking crack, in porn, holding up dry cleaners or thinking they're going to be movie stars by posing for Playboy.
http://omg.yahoo.com/news/jon-kate-gosselin-under-investigation-for-violating-child-labor-laws/23155
I hope they will be ok too. Thanks for the link. I knew about the labor investigation. I guess we'll never know about an abuse investigation if it has to be confidential.
Jon's legal documents cite the Labor Dept. investigation as "on-going" and named the person heading it up. I take that to mean that the child labor issues remain on the table, due to Jon's not so veiled threat to TLC on the topic.
Thanks DGH, can you hook us up with some links to the documents or is this insider information? Thanks for dropping by.
http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=140959
Sorry, Werny Gal - I hadn't checked back in awhile and didn't see your question about the documents. I originally read them on Radar On Line (which I think is in cahoots with TLC, by the way). I tried going back to find them again, but didn't have enough time to dig through all the "search" items brought up. I do have a copy of the court documents printed out, though. Hope this helps!
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