June Shannon 'Not Exploiting' Her Children
June Shannon may be riding the coattails of her daughter Alana's popularity, but she has adamantly stated that she has not exploited her or any other of her children. However, that has not stopped people from being critical of Shannon's parenting decisions, as well as her decision to allow cameras to follow Alana's every move.
"I don't exploit Alana. I would never exploit my kids," Shannon told Radar Online. "Critics are critics and everybody has their opinions but I am not doing anything wrong."
Some disagree, however, highlighting that Shannon has urged Alana to seriously compete in not one, but numerous, beauty pageants. Shannon has come under a great deal of criticism for her parenting methods, including the now-famous "go go juice" that Alana drank before competing; making lemonade with five pounds of sugar; and presenting herself more as a big kid than a fully grown adult.
Even celebrity mom Kris Jenner, who has been criticized herself by some fans of her reality TV for her parenting, allegedly slammed Shannon's behavior. "Kris especially has a strong dislike for June, claiming the beauty pageant world is vile and that June is a bad parent for 'exploiting' Alana in that way," a source told Radar Online.
It has been a revealing look into the life of the Shannon-Thompson family, one that Americans have either loved or hated. To be sure, The Learning Channel (TLC) benefitted from having the family on their network; ratings were so high at one point that they beat out the Republican National Convention.
For Shannon, though, the show has been an experience the whole family can reflect on and enjoy. "It's always ben about fun, and it's an experience in life that they can look back at. We watch the show and wish they put in more stuff," she said.
The season finale of "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" airs Wednesday, Sept. 26 on TLC.
