Lindsay Lohan Jail Time Upsets Kids
Troubled child star Lindsay Lohan will serve 90 days in jail for probation violation, Perez Hilton reports. Her stint begins July 20, and will be followed by an additional 90 days of court-ordered in-patient rehab.
Every celebrity gossip-monger in the country saw this one coming. There’s a collective sigh of relief going out that we’re all writing about her jail sentence and not her obituary, as well as some unspoken disappointment that she’ll be locked away from further opportunities for public embarrassment for several months. What will the paparazzi do without their favorite falling star?
For moms all over the country, though, there’s a bigger problem: what to tell their kids?
One mom on our staff said she hid the news from her girls, turning off the TV when the story came on before they caught the gist of what it was about. Another said she’s used Lindsay’s troubles as teachable moments with her kids, a chance to talk about drugs and alcohol as a family.
Kids seeing a hero fall apart in the public eye can come up with a lot of uncomfortable questions. Little ones especially might have trouble separating the Lindsay they see on screen in The Parent Trap from the Lindsay they see on screen in a courtroom.
Is this a teachable moment for you and your kids? Or just another sad celebrity scandal?
Speaking of parents and teachable moments, Lindsay’s parents have provided us with more than a few over the years. We’ve gotten to watch them squabble in public, use their kids as chess pieces against each other in a bitter divorce, invade the girls’ privacy, flaunt their problems in public in contests to win attention and sympathy and generally behave like troubled children themselves.
Is it any wonder their once shining child star is in freefall? Normally the mother-blaming that goes on whenever a young person gets in trouble sets my teeth on edge, but it’s hard to watch the Lohan family circus and not feel like blowing the whistle and putting everyone in time out. Where are her parents? And why aren’t they, you know, parenting?
Jail hardly seems like the place to find the kind of clear, nurturing, loving guidance one imagines Lindsay needs. But maybe it’ll be a chance for her to find her own rock bottom and begin the climb back up to sobriety, sanity and a career rebound.
I’d love to write the article about her healthy, sober comeback.
Photo: Michael Lohan
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Seems to me that it’d be a great teachable moment about how celebrities are not superheros and being famous isn’t the greatest possible thing to happen to everybody. The culture of celebrity worship is way out of hand.
Excuse me? Did I miss something? Shouldn’t the real fear be about how to tell your child that their favortite celeb is DEAD from an overdose?
Aside from being someone on the news, do kids really know Lindsey Lohan enough for this to be an issue? They might have seen one of her movies, but she’s not Miley Cyrus or someone who is constantly in their world and is a hero and role model. My thought is that the kids who are old enough to really know who she is are probably old enough to accept that she has messed up her life. I’m willing to be corrected on this, but I suspect for the under-10 crowd, she’s more like the Octomom, famous for being famous, than someone who they rely on as a hero.
I agree that probably not a lot of kids under 10 or so know her, but it breaks my heart to see such a talented young woman in so much trouble. I absolutely loved her in Georgia Rules – and several movies before that. Marj – I agree with you also when you say that celebrity worship is way out of hand – and I am adding the sports “celebrities” into that group as well. I just hope that she is able to get well and stay that way and become a productive member of society. It’s a shame that her parents benefit from focusing on the negative. I say, “good luck, Lindsay – it is time to help yourself!”
Why is it a problem to explain to your kids why she is going to jail???? Maybe they will learn what Lindsay never learned from her parents, that every decision you make in your life has consecuences and is up to you to make them positive or negative consecuences.
I’m not going to tell my five-year-old daughter that the little girl from “The Parent Trap” is going to jail. I think it will only scare her rather than teach her anything worthwhile. She’s too young to understand the complexities of the situation.
Good moment to discuss rule-following, rule-breaking and consquences. Personnally, I think she should have went to jail first instead of having the probation period. She is afterall a repeat offender of breaking the law.
Kiki – good point. It is a shame that is even a thought.
I don’t think my kids even know who she is.
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