Duggar Gossip from Boy Scout Camp

[treemom]

A couple of weeks ago my husband and son when to Kia Kima (www.kiakima.com/home.shtml) It is about 4 hours from springdale and 4 hours from Memphis. While mostly it serves scouts from our Council (which owns it) it always has scouts from all over.

 

My husband chatted a lot with a teenage girl who was in venture scouts from Springdale arkansas and in Venture Scouts (the defrauding!). At one point she mentioned she was one of 7 kids and had been homescooled and my husband (not a fundie watcher) said wow, you are almost the Duggars!

 

She then proceeded to dish on the duggars. Apparently she grew up right around the corner from the original house and played with them a lot when they were a bit younger. She said several of the older girls do want to escape and one in particular plans to leave and go to college. My DH thinks it was Jinger but he didn't write it down! (damnit!)

 

She also said that like a lot of fundies they got crazier as they got older (but before TLC) and that when the older girls were young (like Jana was 5 or 6) college was not the evil it is now. She also said they changed a lot once they got on the show and cut off all their old more worldly friends to a certain extent. Probably to prevent these sort of rumors.

 

Who knows if it was true, but I wasn't expecting that when they returned home. Ignore atrocious grammar/spelling. I was typing this super quick before I forget and I need to head out of the house.

[bananacat]

Yeah I know it's just gossip, but I really hope it's true and I really hope the girl who wants to go to college actually does it.

[treemom]

BTW, because it makes my husband sound creepy the girl was on staff. He wasn't just randomly chatting up teenage venture girls.

[deelaem]

Oooo, that's some good stuff. It sounds like a lot of people have Duggar dirt, I wonder why more of it doesn't go mainstream? Does TLC pay off people to keep their mouths shut?

Those poor girls. It's staggering to think how much of their spirits have been crushed.

Oh, and treemom? I didn't see ANY misspellings in your post! :P

[xReems]

My money is on Jana now. I think Jinger has been drinking the kool-aid a little bit more lately (in my opinion) and I've noticed Jana has been attempting to keep a smile on her face lately.

[Deleted02]

I hope it's true! I want a Inside Edition episode about the Duggars.

[SamuraiKatz]

I hope it's true! I want a Inside Edition episode about the Duggars.

I think the TMZ crew could have fun with them. Especially with some of Buzzard's photos showing the boys being defrauded by the lady in the tube dress with the tatoo on her shoulders. That was a priceless picture.. All the boys doing the NIKE thing while the girls interacted with the "defrauder" ;)

[treemom]

My money is on Jana now. I think Jinger has been drinking the kool-aid a little bit more lately (in my opinion) and I've noticed Jana has been attempting to keep a smile on her face lately.

That was what I was thinking based on the sitting with mommmy and daddy at the signings. But Tom said this girl said it was one of the duggars who isn't 18 yet...as in when she turns 18 she is out the door.

[jesusfreak]

Yes but if she knew them from the old house that would have been a few years ago. Every girl was under 18 then.

[lexiloumarie]

If it is is Jinger or Jessa, it would make sense if they seem to be toeing the line more now. If you're planning an escape, you don't draw attention to yourself.

[lilah]

Well Jinger turns 18 in December so if she wanted to run, she's waiting until December. But in any casei if we had a duggar girl make a run for it, where would she go? Would she move in with Amy or someone else?

I bet Jim Bob and Michelle would try and pretend they were totally cool with it for the sake of the family cohesion.

[Sweetpea1]

Well Jinger turns 18 in December so if she wanted to run, she's waiting until December. But in any casei if we had a duggar girl make a run for it, where would she go? Would she move in with Amy or someone else?

I bet Jim Bob and Michelle would try and pretend they were totally cool with it for the sake of the family cohesion.

Is it JB or JChelle that has a sibling that is "out of the loop" - as in living a nonfundie approved lifestyle... that would be my bet as for a safe place to escape to.

JB and JChelle would almost have to fake being OK with an escape - they might lose their cash cow otherwise.

[treemom]

Yes but if she knew them from the old house that would have been a few years ago. Every girl was under 18 then.

Yes but she was speaking as to just a few weeks ago. I am sure she knows their current ages.

And Springdale isn't exactly a huge community.

[dawn9476]

This is probably true and why Jim Bob doesn't seem to hot to marry the girls off.

[Lainey]

Oooh, juicy! I want to know more! I keep hoping that at least one of them will escape and write a tell-all book.

[Chrystal-J]

Here's my prediction based on coming from a big, overly controlled family. We were not fundy in anyway and we went to public school, but my parents were extremely negative and controlling. (Oddly, more about some things than others--but overall, controlling.) My aunts, uncles and grandmother were also controlling. It was like being in boot camp. And, as my siblings got older, they too became very controlling people.

Finally, after I married (early 20's), I just snapped and said "No more!". I quit going to family parties and had very limited contact with my family. I moved away and almost never visited. I didn't have to tell anyone why--they knew. Then the whole family started pulling away from each other. It was like pulling the bottom card out of a house of cards. I was the first to distance myself and the rest saw that it could be done. So, they all followed suit. Sometimes I feel guilty because our family isn't that close anymore. And I was the first one to pull away, so I wonder if they would of stayed close if I had just gone along with the program. But, I just couldn't take the constant micro-managing of my life anymore. I was married and they were still trying to run my life.

The only difference is that the Duggars have tied their controlling lifestyle in with religion. So, that may be a guilt-trip the family members won't be able to get over. So, I can't say what will happen down the road. But, if one of the adult siblings totally breaks all ties (or demands freedom), then it will makes things much easier for the rest of them to do so.

[samithemage]

And Springdale isn't exactly a huge community.

Nor is it a tiny community. I grew up there. It isn't New York City, or even Kansas City huge, but Springdale, Fayetteville, Rogers, and Bentonville (with all the tiny surrounding towns, such as Tontitown and Bella Vista) are all incestuously close to one another and the overall population is larger that many would assume, at least 500,000. I haven't seen the latest census data. Like I said, not huge, but not so small that everyone knows each other, or even each other's business. I never met the Duggar's and didn't even hear about them until after I graduated high school in 2000 and moved away. I had no idea such crazy people lived near me until the tv specials/show

[treemom]

Nor is it a tiny community. I grew up there. It isn't New York City, or even Kansas City huge, but Springdale, Fayetteville, Rogers, and Bentonville (with all the tiny surrounding towns, such as Tontitown and Bella Vista) are all incestuously close to one another and the overall population is larger that many would assume, at least 500,000. I haven't seen the latest census data. Like I said, not huge, but not so small that everyone knows each other, or even each other's business. I never met the Duggar's and didn't even hear about them until after I graduated high school in 2000 and moved away. I had no idea such crazy people lived near me until the tv specials/show

MISSING THE POINT.

Which is, if you lived near the duggars, did homeschool group stuff with them and played with them up until the show started you would know how old the oldest girls are now (which is what someone was saying). Especially when said oldest girls are YOUR AGE. My point was it is a small community and we aren't talking about people who claim to have lived in Rogers...we are talking two families who lived blocks apart growing up with large families who homeschooled.

I am fairly familiar with NW arkansas as I have spent entirely too much time in that area.

[samithemage]

I didn't mean to discount your husband's account. I guess I just get a bit defensive when people talk about Springdale as if it is this tiny, isolated community. Tontitown, where the Duggar's actually live, is a small community, but is still part of the much larger area. I mostly just didn't want people to assume that the area was some backwater, rural area. It is actually very built up nowadays (as my grandmother is often heard to complain about :D )

[Soulhuntress]

JChelle has a sister who is a lesbian in a committed relationship IIRC.

[bananacat]

Maybe Jessa is waiting for Jinger to turn 18 so they can escape together. Lately though I've been hoping for Joy-Anna to escape. Hopefully she can last 5 more years and then escape. I think that if one of the older ones get out, they will pave the way and many of the younger ones will follow them as soon as they are legally allowed to leave. Hopefully at least two of them will leave at the same time so they can help each other.

[3 is enough]

I can see Jessa and Jinger escaping together. They always seem to do everything together, and the chances for a successful escape are probably better if they stick together.

[Fat Actress]

I highly doubt she would leave and stay with Michelle's family, especially not the lesbian sister. I was raised fundy-lite and we only saw my father's family at annual reunions. They were considered "lost" because they weren't our brand of christianity so even at the reunions we were discouraged from socializing. There was absolutely no relationship. I got the feeling, while watching the Duggar kids interact with their maternal family, that they have a very similar experience to mine. There is just no way that one of the Duggar girls would "run" to family she doesn't know and has been trained to distrust. Amy is the best bet.

[debrand]

If the girl was smart, she would find a good lawyer. SHe might be able to sue her parents for the money that she should have earned. Or she might be able to get a book deal for dishing out the dirt on her family.

[Feberin]

If one or two do escape a book deal would be the best way to make some money especially since that book would sell very well. I don't know if I believe that one will escape to go to college anytime soon. Not that I'm not saying years ago they may have said they wanted to attend college but I think right now life isn't miserable enough for the girls for them to escape and risk loosing a comfortable life. My guess is as time wears on and the TLC gravy train dries up then they will start leaving. But for now Jill does most of the childcare work, Grandma and Joy do the laundry leaving only cooking and cleaning, which may frequently be done by the various "exchange students" staying with them.