I’ve found it easier to explain “actors” and the made-up world of TV and movies than the discussions about public personalities (esp. sports) who end up in the news. I really try to emphasize the importance of respecting how hard they work to excel at their sport, but they also make mistakes.

The Golden Rule is used a lot - “Would you want someone to treat you that way?” Kids know right from wrong - but they’ll always try to figure out how far they can push the line. The more dialog, the better!!!

Most important for me seeing how it’s worked well so far, at a young age, even during the Dora years, we educated a lot around TV…such as calling out commercials so they understood the difference between shows and commercials and what certain wording means, like “as much as” or “simulated flying action”. Now it’s moved to the point where the kids understand that these are just characters on a show with a script and that there are real people with real names and real families playing these roles. They seem to get that it’s “make believe” actions that way and so far it’s been working to curb real-life influence.

However, on the reality side, my son idolizes certain individuals that are the real deal - like Shaun White and Tony Hawk. And to be honest, I don’t know what I’ll do if they ever slip up in the public eye in front of our son. Despite my son knowing that everyone makes mistakes and that’s how we learn, I’m still keeping my fingers crossed that White and Hawk can keep it clean so we don’t have to test that out on his idols!