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Michael Jackson - a teachable moment
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This is the moment a parent must hold their child closely......
Michael Jackson is on most children’s minds today. If not for his music, his dance, his unique ways, then for his own children.
It’s hard to say if a particular child today might immediately recognize “Bad”, “Thriller”, or “Human Nature” as Michael Jackson songs. These go back a number of years. But the tabloids on the grocery store checkstands and the entertainment news shows on TV have placed his ever-changing face and wardrobe into almost every child’s thoughts. Each has an impression of who he was.
We see this man who up to about a week ago had been regularly ostracized, criticized, and ridiculed as a freak by so many, now held up as a genius, a martyr, close to a saint, by many more.
Our little ones are bound to wonder, “What’s happening? Why?”
This is where parents and other educators must give assistance.
They need to explain to the children that people who become famous may be mistreated by some. Untrue and unfair things may be written in a magazine or said on a TV show. Embarrassing pictures of the star, the celebrity, and his family may be shown.
Sometimes these things are done because someone is jealous of the famous person. Sometimes these things are done because some people like to buy newspapers or watch news shows which give startling or surprising stories about a person who is on TV or in the movies.
Sometimes a celebrity does really do something silly or stupid. Celebrities are human beings just like us.
But a child needs to also know that not everything we read is true. We must explain this.
Finally, there is the issue of Michael Jackson’s young children who no longer have their father. He is suddenly gone.
“Will this happen to me? Will you die, Daddy?” Maybe the child says this, maybe not. But there is a good chance the concern is present.
This is the moment a parent must hold their child closely and whisper, “I want us together forever and ever. I’ll do everything I can, be as careful as I can, to make it so. I love you.”
In times like these, it’s all a person can do.
In times like these, in one sentence, Michael Jackson’s daughter, Paris, proved how misleading these tabloids and TV shows can be.
“Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine.”
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