The Maryland couple who went viral after posting controversial videos of them playing “pranks” on their kids have lost custody of the two youngest children, at least temporarily, the Baltimore Sun reports.
They are called the DaddyOFive on Youtube.. they are otherwise known as Michael and Heather Martin. And just recently they posted a public apology on the YouTube account called DaddyOFive.
The limits of fame!
The value of privacy!
All displayed in this story.
Let me first say, I did not know much about the DaddyOFive until recently.. My friend sent me a few videos that others have re-uploaded to Facebook. I was immediately disgusted and horrified.. I was sickened by the way they treated their kids.. I was amazed with how completely unfunny the entire ‘practical joke’ notion was. Their children were victimized.. their kids were subjected to inhumane public display like zoo animals. Nothing on this channel was creative or fun.. one of the most horrific videos is here. (Caution is needed, it’s not safe for work. Or for kids)..
After all of this? This is the latest:One video shows Michael Martin repeatedly pushing his son Cody, who ends up crying in an empty bathtub.“You guys don’t care about me, that’s the problem!” Cody yells. “Get out of my life, dad. You don’t like me. Get out!”“I like you,” Michael Martin laughs.“I don’t like you because you’re bad,” Heather Martin can be heard saying.The biological mother of the two youngest children, Rose Hall, appeared in her own YouTube Video on Monday.In the video, Hall’s attorney, Tim Conlon of The Custody Place says Frederick County Circuit Court granted Hall emergency custody of Cody and Emma. Conlon said the children were currently in a “deprogramming mode.”
Conlon and Hall thanked members of the YouTube community who called attention to the videos. Hall described what it was like to watch the videos. “Heartbreaking and disturbing, seeing my kids being abused,” Hall said. Conlon said Hall went with law enforcement officers to “rescue the children.” “Cody had a difficult time when the officer brought him out to the car. He said some things that were disturbing, that he hated me and that Mike and Heather told him that I threw him away like he was garbage and I didn’t love him no more,” she said in the video. She said the children have been reunited with their extended family in North Carolina and are “happy to be home” but have a “long road to recovery.”
Hall said they will be going to family counseling.
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My son watches DanTDM.. He watched the FGTV family.. I got to know these people too.. I even know the FGTEEVers by name.. I feel like they have become a part of my family.. During the worst moments of my 6-year-old’s life, he was comforted by the love of his parents and family. And Zack Scott playing video games on YouTube. The entire dynamic of growing up has changed.
And so has the entire idea of fame.
Fame is easy to get these days. I haven’t really acquired it.. and despite the fact I have a website, I really don’t ask for it. This is just a venue for me to opine in a public forum, at a time and place of my choosing.. about what I want. I don’t need website hits to feel okay..
But some do.
Apparently the DaddyOFive account felt the need to acquire more visits.. more controversy.. for cusses.. and more horrific outcomes for the kids involved.
Everything has changed over the past decade. More than ever before.. I recall the wild days of the early NET, back when message boards were voluminous and anonymity was the prized target for the surging surfing world. Back then? We had AOL instant messenger and actually left the house. We made sure to put up an away message. Myspace came along, and we chose photos and songs to display our mood and interest.. Facebook normalized everything. Like..very normal. Like the same. Everything became the same. Blogs filled with opinions died away. The popular thing to do was to become a cultured social media venturer… the ghettos of the net!
Facebook has become deplorable..
Twitter has given a voice to everyone. For better or worse…
And suddenly, YouTube has made families famous. Along with it, a burst of mania from other families who desire fame, who desire attention. And who, like the DaddyOFive family, display some of the worst forms of abuse in order to garner attention fame…
FAME..
The type of fame that made a Daddy O Five turn into a Daddy of three.. The kind of fame that brought media attention beyond wildest dreams. The kind of fame that brought nothing but insults from the online world.
The new reality is lived online.
The new crime is fame.
Fame destroys just about everything your life holds true and dear.. everything you value. Fame …? Not worth it at all….
And just like on the Truman Show movie in the late 20th century? Once the reality show ends with tragedy the viewers will move on to the next best thing. The next popular venue.. and the next family ready to destroy their entire being for the pursuit of wealth and attention that gets them nothing but horror and bankruptcy.
Yes, This is the post-Twitter internet.
