Chinese whispers media frenzy – this is how it works

We had a little bit of a chock when we were told that we were in the Mirror..and the headline was something that we never said! Later on we saw we were in plenty different European newspapers, many of them claiming stuff we haven’t said or done as well. Some said they had spoken with us and one of them even put a picture of a different family in their article.

So, I will explain how this came about. In July we were asked if we wanted to be in a Youtube-film on the Barcroft Media channel. We were offered two hundred pounds and a promise of our links on their website. The journalist, Nathalie Bonney, made a film and wrote a lovely article which we approved of. Their business is to sell stories to the media. They have a lot of viewers, in general we like the idea and their stories on their site. It was a way to convey peaceful parenting and inspire families to take the step and become digital nomad worldschoolers – like we have. I am pleased that the idea has spread.

So this weekend, The Mirror called my husband and asked a few questions. They read back the quotes and assured us that the article was fine. However, on Sunday, we found that it wasn’t at all what he had said to her. The thing is, our lifestyle is “too boring” for it to be worth writing about like it is, so newspapers enhance and make up stuff to appeal to their readers. Actually worldschooling and digital nomadism is not uncommon now when you can take your work with you to where you want to be. Just Google it.

I have been interviewed many times before because of my plane crash, so it is not the first time this has happened and I knew the risks. But hey, if you are a critical thinker, you will know that you shouldn’t believe everything so then you probably wont give a fuck. I wont either until I finished listing the most amusing misinformations here. Perhaps this is a good warning for mainstream media to better themselves. On internet we have anarchy and its easy to put out facts. So you will have to adapt to it sooner or later.

1. “Our children are more advanced / too clever”

Several newspapers claimed this. The ones I found are The mirror, Closer, Mogaznews and The Sun. We have never said said it. We have said that the school system is forced in Sweden, and all schools have to follow a government programme which we have read and don’t agree with. In Sweden they don’t teach economics until the child is 16. They don’t teach logic. They neglect a load of practical skills. The schools do not have the flexibility to include these areas even if they wanted to.

2. “We will never send our kids to school”

We have never said this either. Actually we have told Barcroft media on the video that our children can go to school if they want. In fact, we are always looking for a school that fits with our values which is peaceful parenting and non-aggression. If we find a school that fits that in a place where we can live we will definitely try it. Daily Mail, Mogaznews and a few other minor ones claimed we said this.

3. Another amusing headline is “Mom makes son drop out of school”

This website and this one claimed that. Which is not true of course. Our children have never been in school. They were four and two when we lived in Sweden. They tried 3 different childcare options. They didn’t like the Montessori one because the staff changed and it wasn’t good anymore.

4. “Family sell everything to take children on amazing worldwide adventure”

Daily express claimed that.  Well not really. We had to sell our house in order to not have any ties to Sweden according to the advice from our accountant. The Swedish government decides unilaterally if you are resident there or not, and they count the number of ‘ties’ you have to the country. This includes family, owning property, spending time there. The Swedish government has been known to track down people who are no longer resident there if they still have ties.  We fund our travels from our websites Hammockheaven, Mypashmina and TheRealRugCompany, not from selling everything.

5. “Mrs King considered the idea when Winston was claiming to be bored at nursery at was learning to read at the age of one.”

6. They found the schools in Sweden where they lived ‘too restricting’ for their liking and wanted to try a more radical approach to teaching”

7. “Their dad revealed that when the boys saw a Roman amphitheater they found it boring, they were also not “bowled over” when they saw the pyramids.”

8. “The pair were also unhappy with the limit on the number of days they could take the boys out of school. So they decided to opt out all together.”

9. The numbers

11. “Rejecting school or ditching school”

12. “Last year Henry smashed a £600 laptop in a fit of rage and laughed when he ­realised it had broken.” “Instead, Paul cancelled a train ride he’d booked and tried to explain they’d used the money saved to help replace the laptop.”