What to Know
If you watched 19 Kids & Counting on TLC, there’s a good chance that you already know that Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar have used some pretty controversial parenting methods while raising their 19 children. But when their son Jackson, who is now all grown up at the age of 21, appeared on sister Jinger’s podcast to talk about their upbringing, he made a confession about discipline under the Duggars’ roof that has people pretty horrified for him and his siblings.
Jackson called it “encouragement,” but what happened doesn’t sound very encouraging at all.
While sitting down with Jinger and her husband (and co-host) Jeremy Vuolo, Jackson explained that when they were kids, when their mom Michelle told them to do something, she really meant it — and she always followed through with every consequence she warned her children that they were headed for. Sometimes, that meant that they’d have to join her for a talk, and other times, the punishment would be more physical.
“She would say, ‘all right, I’m gonna take you to the van and have some encouragement,'” Jackson said, appearing to shoot Jinger a look that made it seem like she knew it wasn’t exactly going to be “encouragement” that the kid in trouble was about to receive.
People were upset by what Jackson shared.
On Reddit, Duggar critics admitted that they were struck by just how casually Jackson talked about receiving physical punishment as a child — like it was so routine that it was really no big deal to him.
“I HATE how fundies label these cruel punishments with such innocuous words. It’s sinister. Encouragement should consist of words of kindness and motivation, not hitting your child,” one commenter wrote.
Another added, “The fact that Jinger was quiet in this clip says a lot about her childhood behind closed doors.”
It’s not the first time that Jim Bob and Michelle have been called out for physically punishing their children.
The Duggars (and others who follow the rules of their cult-like religion, the Institutes in Basic Life Principles) have famously used a method called “blanket training” with their babies, which involves placing a baby on a blanket and striking them if they attempt to venture off the blanket to retrieve a toy that was left just out of their reach.
On one hand, it’s not surprising to hear that those types of punishments continued in the Duggar house as their children got older, but on the other hand? It’s truly heartbreaking to hear what they all may have been subjected to while they were growing up.
