While Welcome to Plathville is supposed to be a family-focused reality series, it serves more as a reminder of the ways in which parents Kim and Barry Plath have let down their children with their unconventional parenting style. The TLC show has not shied away from showing the negative effects of living a sheltered life. Kim and Barry imposed strict rules on their nine kids as a result of their own bad experiences in their youth. However, all of their rules turned out to do more harm than good in many ways.
Kim Plath had an alcoholic single mother who wasn't always around. She used this experience to justify the sheltered, communal family life she created with her husband, Barry, on their farm. However, Kim and Barry took "sheltered" to the extreme. Moriah Plath revealed on season one of Welcome to Plathville that Kim and Barry controlled what the kids wore and what they ate. The girls were not allowed to wear jeans or tank tops, and no one was allowed to wear swimsuits. They couldn't eat sugar or junk food. Furthermore, they couldn't watch TV, and they were homeschooled. Ethan has admitted he never had friends growing up because of his insular life on the farm.
All of this sheltering and refusal to embrace the outside world meant Kim and Barry's children were not prepared for real life. One way this lack of preparation played out was in Ethan and Olivia Plath's relationship. At the beginning of their marriage, Ethan and Olivia struggled with Ethan's lack of relationship experience and inability to communicate. However, Olivia has helped Ethan understand the ways in which his parents can be toxic to him, Olivia, and his siblings, and Ethan has grown since leaving his parents' home. Kim and Barry now force Ethan's other siblings to suffer by not letting them see their eldest brother.
Olivia also helped Moriah understand the outside world a little better. She took Moriah on her first plane ride as the two traveled to San Francisco together. Kim tried to give Moriah an impossible amount of homework to complete so she couldn't go, but Moriah managed to finish it all on time. While there, Olivia and Moriah visited the Castro district, where they learned about the gay rights movement in San Francisco. Moriah was sympathetic and excited to learn about something she had never heard of, though it should have been something she already knew about. Kim and Barry did not teach her important parts of American history that would make her a more understanding person. Luckily, she and her siblings are kind and welcoming, unlike their parents.
Kim and Barry also judge their own children. Moriah admitted she felt judged by Kim "for the clothes I wear or the way I act or just being me." This led to Moriah being kicked out of the house at the age of 17. After making such a big deal about wanting to provide a stable family life for Moriah, Kim was oddly ok with making Moriah live on her own simply because of their disagreements. Her brother, Micah, moved out with her, and the siblings were forced to enter the adult world with very little preparation. In the clip below, Moriah mentions how she felt like an outsider when she entered "the real world."
Kim also encouraged her children not to go to college. She explained college for her and her husband was all about partying, and she doesn't want her children to go unless they need to. If her children don't know what they want to study going in, or if they want to pursue something that doesn't require a college degree, Kim would oppose college. From the emotional and physical sheltering of their children, to judging them for the way they express themselves, to putting limits on their futures, Kim and Barry have let down each and every one of their nine children.