Stauffer Reading and Writing

• Medisch Engels
• MBO
• Studiejaar 2

Reading

The Stauffer family

• Recognising informative and convincing texts
• Writing your opinion

Which sentence is informative?

1. It is wrong to adopt a child, use him for fame, and then give him away.
2. The Stauffer family adopted Huxley from China and gave him to another family after three years.
3. Parents should not profit from a child’s pain on social media.
4. It is obvious that the Stauffers made money from Huxley’s struggles.

Which sentence is convincing?

1. The Stauffer family already had biological children.
2. Huxley was an autistic boy from China that showed challenging behaviour.
3. The family feared that Huxley was having an impact on his siblings.
4. Families should be made to take a course before they adopt a child.

Convincing

Informative

These people should be locked away.

The boy lived with his parents and siblings.

This will damage his mental health.

He lived with his family in Columbia, Ohio.

They probably paid money to adopt him.

The Stauffer Family

In May 2020, vlogger parents Myka and James Stauffer from Columbus, Ohio told their nearly 1 million followers, with tears in their eyes, that they had given up their adopted son, Huxley. 

They had adopted Huxley from China three years earlier, but now he was living with another family. Huxley, who was five years old and had autism, had appeared in many of their YouTube videos, where they shared their family’s experiences, struggles, and sponsored content.

However, before their announcement, followers noticed something strange—Huxley had disappeared from their videos. Older videos featuring him were deleted, and comments asking about him were removed, even though Myka continued posting homemaking videos.

When the truth came out, people reacted with anger. Many accused the couple, who have four biological children, of using Huxley for views and profit, sharing his struggles for content, and then giving him up when they felt they could no longer handle his needs.

Why did people criticize the Stauffer family after they gave up Huxley?

1. People felt the Stauffers used Huxley for fame and money before giving him away again.
2. People thought that the Stauffers should have been locked away for the fact that they used Huxley.

What did followers notice before the Stauffers announced that Huxley was no longer with them?

1. Huxley disappeared from their videos, and older videos with him were deleted.
2. The Stauffers made a big announcement before removing every video of him.

Giving your opinion:

"Children should be loved by their parents."

Start: agree or disagree

I (dis)agree that children should be loved by their parents.

Reasons: why?

,because every child deserves to be loved.

I think it can lead to mental health issues.

I feel that parents are responsible for loving their child. 

"The Stauffers should be locked up."
Do you agree? Explain.

"Parents should go through training before adopting."
Do you agree? Explain.