It's Not Just the Celebrities. It's Your Kid, Too.

You take a kid, give him a little talent, gazillion dollars and a flock of adults on his payroll, and just for good measure, make him kinda cute, too.  What do you think is going to happen?

Justin Bieber. Chris Brown. Miley Cyrus. Just to name a recent few. Race, citizenship, gender. Doesn’t matter.

I dare say that if you gave one of my kids that much assumed power, they might act a fool, too.  Heck, if you gave all that to me, I might raise a few eyebrows, my own self.  With money and fame, often comes out-of-controlness and misbehavior. Nothing new.  Go all the way back to the Biblical prodigal son, look what happened to him. His father gave him his inheritance, he ran off and lived a wild life ‘til his money ran out, then his posse left him and he came crashing back to the reality that he needed to start acting like he had some sense.  He picked up the scraps of his life and went on home to his family, and we never heard about him again.

Hopefully, our young celebrities (and some of the old ones, too) will do the same and get hit with some common sense before they or someone else gets seriously hurt (again).  In the meantime, don’t let pop culture raise your kids.

At the same time, don’t think that foolishness is reserved for the folks in the paparazzi’s camera lens.  It doesn’t take much for a kid to get a bit too high on himself.

You’ve seen that kid.  The one who acts up in school because he knows mom will come and beg his case to the Principal.  What about the kid who killed 4 people while drunk driving and claimed that because his family was so affluent he didn’t know how to behave?  Yeah, let’s even throw in the mean girls carrying the expensive designer purses to school and snubbing their noses at the girls with the regular old department store purse because they’re potential mean-women-in-training.

So, let’s say we all agree that the lifestyle of the rich and famous (real or perceived) can be a bit crazy.  Now what?  Are we going to start telling our kids “no”?  “No, I will not bail you out of every problem you get yourself into.”  “No, as a kid without a job you cannot have consumer items that are equal to some hard-working adults’ monthly salary.”  “No, you cannot talk to me, your parent, any kind of way and not expect any consequences.”  “No, you cannot have your friends (boys & girls) over for drinks and a sleepover.”  “No, you will have to learn from your actions.”

“No. Because I love you.”

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