By JADA LEMOS
Staff Writer
The popular television show, Wife Swap, is possibly one of the most controversial shows that have been around since the early 2000s. The show consists of two wives from two completely different families that swap lives and stay with the other family for a week or two. During their stay, they have to set up rules that will either change the family for the better or worse. When the wives reunite with their own families, they come together to share their experiences being in each other’s homes. One of the most controversial, yet devastating episodes was during season 4 with the Stockdale family.
The Stockdale family consists of the parents, Kathy and Timothy, and their four kids, Calvin, Charles, Jacob, and James. What makes this particular family so controversial is that Kathy and Timothy had mentally and physically secluded their children from the whole world. The brothers worked at home on their farm in Illinois from sunrise to sunset. The oldest, Calvin, was 19 at the time, and he revealed that he has never been on a date with a girl, let alone talked to a girl that wasn’t his own mother. Kathy and Timothy thought it would be best to raise their four children in seclusion to protect them from any “negative” influences from other people.
Another controversial thing about this family is that the parents didn’t allow the brothers to listen to any sort of pop, rock, or rap music, tv and video games were banned, and the only thing they could do was be in their own bluegrass group with their father, the Stockdale Family Band. Kathy and Timothy also had their sons work to earn “tokens” to get access to simple items, such as a radio. Each item would usually cost around 20 tokens.
Everything seemed normal after the episode was broadcasted, until 2017, when Jacob, who was only 25 at the time, fatally shot and killed his mother and younger brother, James. Since then, Jacob Stockdale has been charged and is currently serving 30 years in prison. When the media found out about this tragedy, people argued about who’s really at fault ; Jacob or his mother.
Many people on social media stated that due to the lifelong isolation and seclusion, Jacob was obviously frustrated with continuing to live his life the way his parents and brothers were living. Others say that his isolation isn’t justifiable when he killed his mother and brother. In my opinion, I think the way his family operated was a little too overboard, but that doesn’t excuse what he did. The Stockdale family didn’t need to be destroyed like that, especially when all their parents wanted to do was protect them. Then again, the brothers should’ve been able to experience doing their own things and figuring out what they wanted to do with their lives. To this day, the remaining Stockdale family continues to play in their bluegrass band and has even performed many small live concerts for other families in the midwest.