I am a confessed celebrity gossip junky.  Now, I’m either growing up or out of touch, or both, and I find that I spend less time on the gossip sites because I have no idea who these people are.  Either that, or the people that are constantly featured irritate the snot out of me, take Miley Cyrus, and why should I intentionally expose myself to irritants when I have enough sand in my life as it is, right? 

Another reason to hate Miley has just popped up.  Call me ignorant, call me lazy, but I had no idea what the show “Hannah Montana” was all about.  I thought, “It’s a Disney show, it must be suitable for children.”  Don’t worry, folks, I stand corrected.  About a month and a half ago, I was standing at the whiteboard in Charlie’s room, writing my vocabulary words over and over again because this is the most effective way for me to study.  In the background, Charlie was watching some of his favourite shows.  As time went on, the English dialogue began to infiltrate through the Arabic vocab, and I clued in to what this show is all about: pursuing the cute boy and wanting to be kissed.  I put a kabosh on that show instantly, banning Charlie from watching any TV past the hour of 6 p.m.  He could watch an hour after lunch before homework time, but after that, absolutely not.  I thought that the issue had been solved and didn’t think to follow up any more specifically after the fact, a sad oversight on my part. 

Charlie recently had spring break and during the break, we learned that he’s been experiencing some bullying on the playground.  Feeling that the situation was serious enough to bring it to the administrator’s attention, I went into her office the day after school was back in session.  After hearing out my concerns about what Charlie was going through, she assured me that they would do something about it, including sending Charlie to the counselor to talk about it.  Then she sighed a little and said, “We have also received this morning a complaint about Charlie.”  I was surprised.  I instantly wondered if Charlie had painted a picture of being the victim to us, but in reality he was the one that was bullying.  “Charlie has been writing love letters to one of his female classmates.”  My first thought: phew.  The bullying story is accurate.  My second thought: Oh, my casinova son, what have you done? 

The administrator opened her desk drawer, pulled out three scrap pieces of paper, and handed them to me.  I was horrified by what I read.  From a western standpoint, they weren’t so bad, really.  There was mention of kissing.  But from the perspective of those that have lived in the culture of the desert all their lives, it was an absolute disgrace.  There was mention of kissing!  I assured her that I would talk to Charlie about this and tried to convince her that this was something that we did not approve of in our house.  The father of the object of Charlie’s desire was very angry, I was told, and I pled for the administrator’s assistance in communicating our regret of the situation. 

The next day, Charlie stood before the father of the girl whose reputation he had spoiled.  He asked for forgiveness and said that he would never write letters to his daughter ever again.  The father accepted Charlie’s apology.  His main concern was where Charlie had been learning such things.  At lunch, I asked him where he had learned about kissing and chasing after the  girls that you like.  He said, “I learned it from the tv.”  Well, thank you very much, Hannah Montana.  Your version of wholesomeness misled my son, got him beaten up on the playground by the offended girl’s brother, and nearly tarnished an entire family’s reputation. 

The plug has been pulled on the tv in the kids’ room.  No more watching tv without supervision.  I’ve learned my lesson and I regret that I didn’t learn the lesson sooner.  I’m sorry that Charlie had to learn the lesson as well in such a serious way.  I just hope that the effects of this whole messy situation aren’t long term and irreversible. 

Perhaps I should have paid attention more closely to the gossip blogs.  I would have seen this and could have avoided this whole thing from the beginning.  My conclusion is this: gossip blogs are necessary parenting resources.