It has been quite some time since the 8 Passengers posted on YouTube. Ruby and Kevin Franke's family channel has steadily declined since they were at the center of a child abuse scandal in 2020. The two attempted to make a comeback to YouTube after facing backlash when their 15-year old son revealed he had slept on the floor for 7-months as a punishment. However, their channel has continued to decline and the Frankes have begun to decrease their efforts in it. In fact, 8 Passengers has laid dark for 3 months to date, as Ruby revealed she was leaving YouTube to focus on her involvement with ConneXions. ConneXions is a curriculum for couples and individuals struggling with addiction, relationships, and mental health. However, this business is being run by Jodi Hildebrandt, a therapist who had her license put on probation when she charged a client thousands of dollars per session, falsely accused him of having a porn addiction, blackmailed him, and disclosed sensitive client information to church officials. Now, she has created ConneXions and has gathered individuals like Ruby and Kevin, who are wholly unqualified, to be "mental fitness coaches" and to give unsupervised mental health advice to others.
What Have Ruby & Kevin Been Up To Lately?
Ruby and Kevin's role in ConneXions has included filming "couple workshops" for ConneXions YouTube channel. So far, their "workshops" have been just as disturbing as their 8 Passengers vlogs used to be. In a two-part workshop titled "Christmas with no presents?" Ruby and Kevin revealed that they had pulled their two youngest children, Russell (9) and Eve (7), out of public school to keep them home all day to clean floors. This was a punishment for the kids allegedly being selfish and making "egregious" choices. Furthermore, when the kids seemed to enjoy cleaning the floors, they made the decision to buy and give all their kids presents on Christmas morning, except for Russell and Eve. The two children received no gifts and sat and watched their older siblings open presents on Christmas morning. Meanwhile, Ruby and Kevin encouraged other parents to take this cruel approach as well, to punish their young children for, basically, being children.
Ruby and Jodi Start A Mom Support Group
Ruby has proved time and time again, that she is not the kind of mother who should be giving parenting advice. However, she is doing just that with her latest ConneXions initiative. Ruby and Jodi moved on to Facebook and have started a private group titled, "Moms of Truth with Jodi & Ruby." The group's description reads: "Welcome to Moms of Truth! This is a support group for mothers to ask questions and receive feedback on the parenting challenges you're facing.
Jodi Hildebrandt (MS) and Ruby Franke are mental fitness trainers with @connexionscoaching. They are available to give you Truth-centered, principled-based training to help you create joy within your family."
The group is private, meaning only members can see the videos and content posted within the group. In order to request access to the group, users must give their name, number of children they have, and their reason for joining. The group currently boasts 282 members and a featured post describes motherhood as bringing lots of joy, but also pain. Several mothers have already shared questions and struggles with Ruby and she has responded to them with her advice.
Ruby's Response To A Teenager Wearing "Immodest" Clothes
The very first question from a mother that Ruby tackled, was from a mother whose 15-year old daughter was wearing revealing clothes. By "revealing" - we're talking about crop tops, short skirts, tube tops, etc. The mother discussed how her daughter was directed not to wear such clothes, but continued to buy them, hide them, or to cut her own clothes into more revealing outfits. Her mother mentioned that she is the only girl in her friend group not allowed to wear such clothes. The mother revealed that she throws away her daughter's clothes every time she sees them, but that each time she entered the daughter's room, she found more.
Ruby praised the mother and urged her to continue throwing out her daughters clothes. She also called it "stealing" that the daughter sneaks clothes into the house, despite the daughter paying for it with her own money. In addition to this, she suggested the mother make her daughter's life unbearably "small." Meaning that her daughter would not be allowed to, basically, do anything - hang out with friends, use phones, use makeup, etc. Saturdays will be days for family counseling, regardless if the daughter has other commitments or not. Once her world becomes super small and she starts taking responsibility and showing respect, then she will get back her privileges. If that doesn't work, then Ruby suggests keeping the kid's life "small" until the day they turn 18 and move out. Check out the video below:
What Ruby Thinks Easter Should Look Like For Your Kids
The second question that Ruby responded to, was one from a mother who felt like she was competing with her ex-husband to provide their daughter with a happy Easter. She planned on giving her daughter a small gift, like a pair of sandals and shorts, but was worried knowing that it will be like a second Christmas over at her ex-husband's house when he gets his daughter on Easter evening. Ruby made a couple decent points about pulling out of the competition and focusing on what Easter really means for the family. However, she also advised the parent to address their insecurities by doing things on Easter that they enjoy, rather than what her daughter enjoys. For example, she mentioned potentially having an Easter egg hunt with the daughter. However, the mother can't do it if it is to make her daughter happy. She should only do it if she personally enjoys having Easter egg hunts, because "who cares" if her six-year old daughter enjoys it or not.
The Danger In 8 Passengers Mom Support Group
The videos posted by Ruby in the mom support group are actually a bit tame in comparison with 8 Passengers vlogs and the ConneXions workshops, however, the same harmful rhetoric stills exists in them. First of all, condoning a mother for throwing away her 15-year old daughter's clothes is a big red flag. Second, suggesting making your child's life "small" until they either do your bidding or move out, is essentially the #1 way to ensure your adult children cut you off and never speak to you again once they turn 18. Meanwhile, the Easter video starts off alright, but again, derails into this idea that it is terrible to provide your child with even an inkling of joy. Ruby suggests that your sole responsibility is to indoctrinate your child with your religious teachings, regardless of their happiness. The whole question was about a mother's problems and mother's issues with insecurity and competition. How did it suddenly become a lecture about ensuring you don't provide enjoyment and happiness to your child?
Overall, Ruby and Jodi continue to do more harm with their shifty ConneXions business. Ruby and Kevin live a dangerous ideal that a parent's job is to ensure their child does their every bidding and, if they don't, then you must subject them to a life devoid of happiness until you "break them" and force them to abide by your ideals. Meanwhile, if your child is unhappy, traumatized, depressed, suicidal, etc, it's ok - because that's not your problem. You're still doing "good" by them by forcing them to live in the way of the lord and that's your one and only duty as a parent. Ruby's terrible advice on her new mom support group is further proof that she is not only an abusive mother, but a fierce advocate for child abuse and is attempting to win over more people to abusing their children.