Michael?S Mistake: Eight Ways To Turn The Michael Phelps Pot Scandal Into A Valuable Teaching Moment For Your Kids
Michael?S Mistake: Eight Ways To Turn The Michael Phelps Pot Scandal Into A Valuable Teaching Moment For Your Kids
Michael’s Mistake: Eight Ways to Turn the Michael Phelps Pot Scandal into a Valuable Teaching Moment for Your Kids
He was a national hero that parents and kids both loved. Now, with a compromising photo making headline news, parents are wondering what they should say to their kids about Michael Phelps’s fall from grace. Parents should not to let this great opportunity to talk with their kids pass them by. There are many lessons we can all learn from Michael’s big mistake.
By Kelly Johnson
Throughout the Olympics we heard some pretty amazing facts: His wing span is longer than his height! His feet are like flippers! He eats over 10,000 calories a day! He has two times the lung capacity of a normal human! These exclamations, some more true than others, were all used to help explain the superhuman feat of Michael Phelps winning eight gold medals in one Olympics, an accomplishment that made him a hero to many, especially kids. But as the result of one unfortunate photo, the superhuman Olympian is now having to face his very human actions.
While disgruntled parents with Phelps-loving kids might want to throw him under the proverbial bus, going after him won’t help your kids to process what is happening to their American hero. Instead you should take this opportunity to teach them some valuable lessons about their own integrity.
Particularly recently it has become especially hard to protect our kids from the misbehaving celebrities out there. With a famous baseball player admitting to steroid use, a famous singer being accused of domestic violence, and of course Phelps, parents have had a lot to explain to their children recently. For me, Michael Phelps’s behavior hits a little closer to home than that of many other celebrities because I think he became a national hero for the country. Someone, for once, that we were happy to let our kids idolize.
As we hear the news coverage and consider what we would do if we were in Michael’s mom’s shoes, Johnson says it’s a prime opportunity to talk to your kids about what happened and what we all-kids and parents alike-can learn from Michael’s mistake.
Let’s be honest. This could have happened to any of our sons. And while my first reaction would be to bring the hammer down hard, once the dust had settled, I would want my own son to know that there was a way to set things right. We have to remember that role model or not, Michael Phelps is entitled to the same compassion, forgiveness, and encouragement we would want extended to our own kids. And I think for many parents it will be easier for us to forgive Michael if we can use him to teach our kids some valuable lessons about life.
Read on for eight ways to maximize this teaching moment instead of letting the opportunity pass you by:
Talk about the Phelps story because your kids can relate to it. When the nightly news is made up mostly of stories dealing with the financial crisis, the hardships it is causing, and wars overseas, a story about an Olympic swimmer smoking pot may seem insignificant. But the Phelps story is one that your children will more easily relate to as they will experience pressures to drink or use drugs in their own lives. Failing to talk with them about the decision Michael Phelps made and the ramifications it can have is a huge missed opportunity.
As parents, we didn’t mind that our kids looked up to Phelps. But now it’s time for us to sit down with our kids and tell them what we don’t like about the situation and to listen to them give their opinions. It’s also important that you use this opportunity to explain to them that Phelps is redeemable. That, sure, he made a mistake, but we all do and now he must do what he can to make it right.
Remind your kids they must separate the Michael in the pool from the Michael on dry land. American consumers are nothing if not optimists, and no matter how many athletes and “heroes” have disappointed us in the past, we continue to hope that the next one will live up to our expectations. Enter Michael Phelps. We wanted to believe that the skill and maturity we saw in the pool was reflected in the young man himself. The truth is Michael Phelps is a uniquely talented swimmer, but his superhuman qualities are limited to the pool. On dry land, he’s no better or worse than most kids his age, and we can’t really be angry with him for that.
The trick in a situation like this one is to help your kids to find the qualities in Phelps, or any favorite athlete, that they should emulate. Talk about his drive and dedication, or the fact that he was never a quitter. Tell them it’s okay for them to look up to famous athletes, so long as they don’t try to be exactly like them. Identify the best qualities about that person and explain to them that is who they should try to be.
Explain that when