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Joy-Anna Duggar is totally failing her children according to some of her own fans.
Some of the Duggar children, now parents, have moved to protect their own kids from a cult education riddled with errors and deliberate gaps.
Jim Bob and Michelle did not give their children their best chance. They raised them to be cult members, spouses, and parents — and very little beyond that.
But is Joy doing any better for her own kids? It doesn’t look like it. It looks like “educational neglect,” critics say.
Why are fans accusing Joy-Anna Duggar of educational neglect?
On Sunday, March 2, Joy-Anna Duggar took to her Instagram page to showcase a snapshot of her morning.
As many Duggar fans are aware, Joy-Anna has been on an extended trip in California. She recently appeared on Jinger and Jeremy’s podcast as a guest.
With her are 7-year-old Gideon, 4-year-old Evelyn, and 2-year-old Gunner. When Joy shared her morning routine, her followers spotted an alarming detail.
For each morning task — like eating breakfast, putting on clothes, playing outside, and more — Joy-Anna indicated a time frame.
One blink-and-you-miss-it detail is that the “school” activity begins at 9 AM. “School” then ends at 9:40 AM.
Followers can only draw one conclusion from this information, and it’s not good. In less time than it takes to watch a commercial-free episode of a standard TV show, 7-year-old Gideon’s school day begins and ends.
Joy-Anna Duggar only provides 40 minutes for ‘school’ each day?
Reddit denizens pointed out this grim detail, though they included some nuance when it came to critiquing Joy-Anna Duggar.
“Now, we obviously can’t know whether there is another time in the day they do more schoolwork but I honestly really doubt that,” the poster wrote.
The same poster continued: “Gideon is 7 and her daughter like around 4 I think? Of course she doesn’t need much schoolwork then. But Gideon is supposed to be in second grade and so 40 minutes of ‘school’ a day can’t possibly be enough.”
“Educational neglect is a serious problem in this country. It’s unfortunate,” lamented one commenter.
That same redditor added: “She is barely educated herself let alone skilled to provide education to a child.”
Another comment observed: “The idea that poorly homeschooled kids grow up and then homeschool their kids is frightening, to say the least.”
What is ‘educational neglect’ anyway?
Simply put, educational neglect is when a parent fails to ensure that their child’s educational needs are met. This often begins with depriving their child of schooling, either by not ensuring that they attend school or by subjecting them to homeschooling.
Even in the best of cases, homeschooling is deservedly controversial. It is an opportunity for social isolation even if the child’s academic experiences are exemplary.
But in many cases, as with Joy-Anna’s own childhood, homeschooling in an abusive home can include a glaring lack of actual learning. It doesn’t take a cult family to neglect a child’s education … but the cult aspect will almost guarantee that something is missing from the curriculum.
That said, we have to point out that, as one Reddit denizen pointed out, it’s possible that there was more schooling later in the day. Likely? No. But it’s possible.
More significantly, Joy is on vacation. 40 minutes of “school” seems pretty appropriate, even for a 7-year-old, if you’re away from home.
It’s possible that Gideon receives a solid academic education at home. It’s just that, given his parents and their own upbringings, many longtime Duggar watchers strongly doubt it.
