14 Children and now what??

I have seen most, if not all of the shows.  Here's my observations...
 
The kids are very happy with their lives.  They LOVE when there is a new baby coming and look forward to it and are involved in it.  All of them go to the ultrasounds!  They chose to have rooms together instead of apart.  Everyone in that family is very happy.
 
HOWEVER... do they know what they are missing and not involved in by not going to public schools, playing with other families unlike them (they do get together with other homeschooled students many times), etc.  Not necessarily.  However, they are probably a lot happier than most people.  They will end up marrying people like them and continuing the life.  It is like Quakers and Amish people.  They are very happy with their lives, but may or may not truly understand how others live. 
 
To each his own... gotta be happy for you, not for others.

You know, I went to public school for over half of my school years, and I really don't think that not going means you're missing anything. Then again, I'm really weird.

How do the rest of us know what we're missing out on by having all the stuff we have and doing what we do? What are we missing out on by NOT having 16 kids? I am one of those crazy people who believes that children are a blessing. Each one is unique, and special, and it's gotta be a blast (though very difficult at times) to have that many. Of course, I don't particularly care to have that many, and I'm not even likely to be able to, so.....

I dunno. I'm not a big fan of this thread, and I wasn't going to say anything, but now I have, and it doesn't make a lot of sense. Oh, well.

Just a thought... they are all so happy its strange, they could just be putting on a show.  I know lots of those reality shows are not as "real" as they would like us to think. I think its partly a show, and a money maker.  Like circus freaks or something... (I dont mean that to be mean, just an actual example) like this person is strange so we can make money by letting people look at him/her/them...
 
I do think its also that they dont know what else is out there that they are missing, and thats a shame... then again they may not care.  But for the most part I think all the happiness is for show.  A family THAT big has to have some issues... and somehow they always seem to be just fine and perfect and peachy keen.

I personally have met a family of 15 kids (last time I saw them) who were all home schooled, and they REALLY were happy. The family has a great relationship. I know smaller families that do, too.....

Different isn't necessarily bad. Everything that's mainstream isn't good. Actually, a lot of the stuff that's mainstream is BAD.

Just in dog stuff, the mainstream foods are all crap. Mainstream veterinary care is sub par. Mainstream pet products are flimsy and unsafe. Mainstream pet care is sub standard. The mindset of the masses is disgusting, and the life of the average American dog is a sad, sad story. You wouldn't say that our poor dogs just don't know what they're missing out on, would you?????

I am a product of public schools.  I did well academically, but I  HATED the social aspect of it.  I was one of the "have nots" and lived well below the poverty level, so needless to say, I was NOT in the "in crowd". Frankly, if I lived in a family like this and was as loved as every kid there seems to be, I suspect I would have been a MUCH happier child than I was in the home where I grew up.

Yes, not all mainstream things are goood.....
 
Yet I think it's important for these 16 children to understand that there is a world outside of their home and basement. It's difficult for a child to be "well rounded" when they are only exposed to one way of life. After all the home schooling and family voilin playing, they will have to get jobs and move into the real world. What about college? How do you think these kids will cope once they are placed in an environment that they have never been in? The same goes for when the kids have to get jobs and move outside their comfort zone.

I think you have to keep in mind that you are seeing a tiny, edited portion of their lives on this tv show.You seem to think they are locked up in the basement and have no idea what is going on in the world, when far from it, these kids are better educated than most I can think of. When the father was a State Rep, he had his kids at the State Capital in Little Rock so much, the other reps had knicknames for them.These kids are involved in a lot of things that most kids only get to read about or see on tv, they are involved hands on.You tell me which sounds better, most u.s kids sitting in front of a tv for hours everyday, or getting out and being involved in life.I guess I just don't understand why you seem to have it in for this family.

Social lives for kids are very much over-rated.  I assume by "social life" you mean where the kid learns to prefer "hanging out" with his peers to all else, learns all his social skills and habits of thinking from kids his own age rather than wiser adults, and follows their lead and pressures on issues like smoking, premarital sex, habits of interaction with people outside their peer groups, and so on.

I hear all the time that my kids need to be "exposed" to kids their own age more - as if they were Roman children and we were talking about leaving them on a bare rock to be eaten by wolves (the actual meaning of the word exposed).  They see children thier age enough to have fun with them and be kids together plus they play together under my supervision all the time.  I look around at kids their age who do spend all their time "exposed" to other kids and they are rude, have no impulse control (those are the ones smearing mashed potatoes in Anne's hair at the restaurant), loud, violent, and have no idea how to respond to adult leadership.  My kids CAN be loud and rambunctious (they are on a play break right now outside and I can hear them in the house).  but they know there's a time and a place. 

They don't need constant stimulus to stay quietly amused.  Everthing they do is a learning experience, as it should be for a child.  My five year old can name all the planets and can tell you a little about each one - because he wanted to know, not because someone made him learn or a peer bullied him into it.  He is fascinated with science and knows about gravity, and several other basic concepts of physics.  My other son is a storyteller and a poet.  He makes up stories about his stuffed animals constantly.  He's seven and would have that creativity pummelled out of him by his peers who value video games and I'm sure think "playing" with stuffed animals is effeminate or babyish.  The adventures his animals have are far from effeminate but they always end with family and friends working togehter to save the day. 

He and his younger brother spends hours outside every day, running, riding bikes, climbing trees, helping me in the garden and with farm chores, playing with the ducks, cats, and dogs.  They appear to be half the weight of the average child their ages - who seem to spend most of their time, whether with peers or not, either eating or in front of the gamebox/tv (or eating in front of the tv).

I was at a herding clinic at couple of weeks ago and the host asked me, on the second day, whether my kids were there.  When I said "no" he asked where they were.  At their grandparents, I said.  He did a doubletake and said, "Oh, so they haven't been here at all this weekend?"  He said they are usually so quiet he normally doesn't even know they are there, when they ARE there.  My youngest son has ADHD, by the way.  I have worked VERY hard to keep him drug free and teach him impulse control and self regulation.  These are things his peers certainly wouldn't have taught him.

I can definitely believe that these kids have a rich social life and will grow into normal - or possibly supernormal - adults.  I grew up in a similiar household and it's just not what people are saying here.  I hope the same for my two kids, but I can only do my best to raise them to be nice, self-motivated, intelligent adults.

My niece has a masters in either early childhood development or education.  She spent a number of years in the trenches of public schools and she chooses to home school her 6 and 3 year olds.  Those kids go more, do more, see more, interact more, than most kids I've met, and they are polite and well behaved.  Yeah, they are active, but by golly they are GOOD children who are exposed to a ton of different stuff.  Home schooling doesn't have to mean BAD schooling.  IF the majority of parents instilled respect and discipline in their kids then public schools wouldn't be the "trenches"

Actually most loud obnoxious kids I know don't spend most of their time with other kids...but alone, in front of a tv or video game device They are under socialized in a different way.
 
I am sure those kids get the some rhetoric as far as doing things this way and those that don't aren't as good a people as they are etc....basically the reverse of what we're saying here. Our lifestyle is normal everyone else's is sinful and weird and not to be emulated. There are people who we "don't" associate with etc...
 
No one's perfect...