I’ve been down this road before regarding ‘Octomom’ and touched on it with the Gosselins, but there is a steep price to pay by our children in the pursuit of our own celebrity. This scripture bears repeating:
It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. -Luke 17:2
In the past week you were probably glued to your TV when you heard about “balloon boy”. As a parent, my heart ached thinking of a 6 year-old 7000 feet in the air, all alone. In case you’ve been living under a rock, it turns out the whole thing was a hoax. Sadly, the 6 year-old is caught in the middle of it all, spilling the beans (literally and figuratively) on the whole thing on national TV. You know you’re putting your kid under too much pressure when he throws up on camera. Sadly, kids are put through the ringer all the time for the sake of ‘reality TV’. Jon and Kate, I’m looking at you.
But that’s not the only forum where children are the victims of their parent’s pride and selfishness. Unfaithfulness not only tears marriages apart, but tears the children apart also. This is no more evident than the recent case of ESPN’s Steve Phillips. His affair with an “assistant” led her to confront his wife and his son via Facebook in what the media is comparing to “Fatal Attraction”. In Phillips’ statement to the police he said, “I have extreme concerns about the health and safety of my kids and myself.” If he cared so much for his kids, he should’ve kept it in his pants. Sorry to be so blunt, but this is his second known affair. The first cost him his job as GM of the Mets. This one is going to cost him his wife. I don’t know what will happen with his kids after the divorce, but one thing to be sure of, there will be cameras rolling when that decision is made.