Welcome To PlathvillematriarchKim Plathmay have reinvented herself, butKim’s previous parenting stylecontinues to shape her children’s lives.Kim and her husband, Barry Plath, raised their nine children in a super-strict and religious household.They prohibited television, the internet, and mainstream entertainment, leaving their children extremely sheltered.The home-schooled Plath children had little contact with peers who didn’t share the family’s Fundamentalist Christian beliefs.
Kim and Barry’s inflexible parenting style backfired as their children became adults. Their oldest son, Ethan Plath, became estranged from his parents after his wife, Olivia Plath, resisted their conservative views on marriage and family. Micah Plath and Moriah Plath also moved away from the family’s Georgia farm andadopted a more liberal lifestyle.AsKim and Barry’s parenting tacticscreated a divide between them and their children, their own marriage fell apart. Now, Kim and Barry have relaxed their attitudes toward their children, but they can never fully repair their past mistakes.
The Older Plath Children Aren’t Well-Educated
Their Homeschool Education Was Lacking
Kim’s children feel they were left unprepared for the real world and unable to compete with their peers.
Kim’s homeschooling curriculum was deeply motivated by her religious agenda. She chose what to teach her children,which allowed her to omit any facts she did not agree with.Kim’s children argue this left them unprepared for the real world and unable to compete with their peers.
In particular, Ethan took issue with the education he received. He argued that Kim didn’t push him to do his schoolwork, allowing him to focus only on what interested him. While Kim defended herself by claiming she wanted to encourage Ethan to follow his passions,she shouldn’t have allowed a child to dictate what he studied.Ethan felt disadvantaged by the educationhe received, and he believed it held him back in his adult life.
Kim failed to provide her children with the standard tools that would allow them to succeed.On top of a questionable educational agenda, her strict rules also left them ignorant of pop culture.InWelcome To Plathvilleseason 6, years after she first broke away from her mother’s grip, Moriah was still catching up.An aspiring singer herself, Moriahdidn’t even know who Usher was. Moriah’s friend noted that she constantly teaches Moriah about mainstream culture.
Purity Culture Drove Kim’s Children To Rush Into Relationships
They Feel Pressured To Settle Down At Young Ages
A large part of Kim’s religious parenting agenda was promoting purity.She taught her children that they needed to abstain from sex until marriage, and she provided no sexual education.Paired with the fact that they only socialized with families who shared the same views, the Plath children were left with very little understanding of human sexuality.
This guilt and shame surrounding sex pressured Kim’s children to rush their relationships.Ethan married Olivia when he was only 20, which is very young to make a lifelong commitment.Ethan never dated around tomake sure Olivia was the right partnerfor him.Unsurprisingly, his marriage suffered.If Ethan had been raised with a more open attitude toward relationships, he probably would have been spared the heartache of his divorce.
Kim and Barry’s attitude towards dating put pressure on their children to focus only on long-term commitment.
Like Ethan, Moriah and Micah also rushed into relationships. began a serious relationship with Max Kallschmidt inWelcome To Plathvilleseason 2, while rebelling from her parents. Unfortunately,Max cheated on Moriah and left her devastated.Micah also moved quickly withhis girlfriend, Veronica Peters, settling down with her and giving up his modeling career. Kim and Barry’s attitude towards dating put pressure on their children to focus only on long-term commitment.This robbed their children of the ability to date for fun and to find out what they really needed from a partner.
Kim’s Interference Destroyed Ethan And Olivia’s Marriage
She Still Hasn’t Acknowledged Her Role In Their Divorce
Ethan and Olivia faced many problems as a young couple, and Kim’s interference certainly didn’t help. Olivia grew up in a fundamentalist family similar to the Plaths.She didn’t agree with the way she was raised and sought to build a more progressive life with Ethan.Olivia introduced Ethan to many of the simple pleasures he had been deprived of, like soda and alcohol. Olivia deconstructed her religious trauma by exploring the world and creating her own values.
Welcome To Plathville: The Plath Family Tree Explained
Welcome To Plathville features the large Plath family, including parents Kim and Barry and their nine children. Check out the full Plath family tree.
Olivia’s independence didn’t sit well with Kim.She accused Olivia of brainwashing Ethan and tried to push her views onto her daugher-in-law.When she didn’t agree with the way Olivia and Ethan were living,Kim cut them off. She also didn’t allow Ethan to have a relationship with his younger siblings.
Kim’s interference put Ethan and Olivia’s marriage in a vulnerable position. After years of fighting about boundaries, Ethan and Olivia made the decision to divorce. Even while living with heartbreak, Ethan feared telling his younger siblings about his divorce.Kim’s unrealistic standards made Ethan feel like he disappointed those who looked up to him by giving up on his marriage.Despite Ethan’s estrangement from his mother, he couldn’t shake the traditional ideology she instilled in him.
Kim Shifted Her Priorities During Her Divorce
Her Not-So-Strict Attitude Isn’t Fooling Viewers
Kim and Barry announced the end of their marriage in 2022.As soon as she and Barry separated, Kim began to change.She moved out of the family home and devoted her time to dancing, leaving her daughter Lydia Plath responsible for homeschooling her younger siblings.Kim suddenly transformed from a helicopter mother into an absentee parent.
Now that she’s single, Kim’s parenting style has completely changed. She’s more relaxed with her younger children, having learned from the mistakes she made with her older children. However,Kim has yet to repair the damage she’s responsible for.She may have evolved, but she hasn’t made amends for the mistakes she made. She shouldn’t have isolated her children and deprived them of decent educations. While Kim acts like simply changing her attitude absolves her of her mistakes,Welcome To Plathvilleviewers remain unconvinced.
