PARENTING ADVICE: DISCUSSING THE TIGER WOODS AFFAIR WITH CHILDREN
Imagine sitting around the dinner table with your children talking about the goods and bads of their days at school, when suddenly one of them asks the question “What is cheating? And why is Tiger Woods not playing golf anymore?” As a parent it’s often easy enough to disregard their question for the simple fact that you do not want to approach the conversation of what lies ahead. It would be so much easier to pretend that question wasn’t asked. Maybe if I ignore it, they won’t ask again and then we will not have to get into this subject at all? That might be what is going through your head. But don’t let your childrens curiosity disway your from allowing an open dialogue between you both.
Marriage and Family Therapist, Jennine Estes sat down with Fox 5 News about this very topic. Here are a few of her quotes from the interview with the news station:
Estes says “parents should have an open dialogue. Someone in their pre-teens, you might be able to talk more in-depth: What is cheating? What does that mean? Someone younger, 6 or 7 years old, you want to be more sensored. If they want to know, ask them, do you want to know what this is, I can walk you through it and watch what their comfort level is.” She feels strongly about making sure the parents open up to their child about their family beliefs. And teach their children to understand that being a icon in the public eye doesn’t mean that cheating is okay. This is a good time to reinforce the core family values with them. Here’s what she says: “Parents, there views, their beliefs impact children, children listen to it. Just because tiger is a star – an icon — doesn’t make cheating ok.”