Bieber And A Blunt: Talking To Your Kids About Justin Bieber And Marijuana

When I arrived at work on Tuesday I was approached by two teachers, both young mothers who wanted to share a discussion they had with their kids the night before. 

The discussion topic?  Justin Bieber and marijuana.

Like many pop-stars and cultural phenomena who have come before The Biebs, his personal decision has been blown up in the media.  It can be hard for any young person when their celebrity idols say or do things that goes against the image that has been created.  This has happened before…and it will happen again.

And while there are many opinions of what it means for an 18 year old to be using marijuana – millions of Beliebers are left with many questions…and their parents forced to have conversations about drugs much earlier than they expected.

If you’re planning on talking about this with your kids…here are 6½ things to keep in mind.

1. Remind your child that Justin is a person too.  No matter how invincible he may seem, he is going to make mistakes.  After all, he is human, just like the rest of us. 

 

2. Just because Justin does it, it does not mean that they have to.  Fans like to dress, dance, sing and sometimes behave like their pop culture idols.  This is a great opportunity to teach your children about making their own choices. 

 

3. There is nothing they can do to make Justin stop.  He can only stop if he wants to.  There have been articles, twitter posts and pictures stating that young people are harming themselves to get Justin to stop smoking marijuana.  Not only is this unrealistic, but it is not going to change one person’s choice.  I’ll say that again.  HURTING YOURSELF WILL NOT GET JUSTIN TO STOP USING MARIJUANA.  Do not hurt yourself.

 

4. Remind your child what attracted them to Justin in the first place?  It was probably his music…and his hair.  Well, his hair has changed, but his music has gotten better over time.  They can still sing and dance along to his songs.  Their original reason for liking him has not changed.

 

5. But he was doing something illegal!  Yes, he was.  And doing things that are illegal is not okay.  Just because Justin did something illegal does not mean that your child has to do something that is illegal.  And liking someone that does something illegal does not make your child bad.

 

6. Focus on the good.  Justin is in the spotlight for this right now, but talk with your child about Justin’s charity work, the attention he pays to terminally ill children and how he treats his fans.

 

6½.  Marijuana is a drug.  Yes, and it has several negative affects on your brain and your body.  This is a good opportunity to teach your child about the negative effects of drugs, peer pressure, reputation, being a positive leader and being themselves.

To talk about this, or any other difficult discussions with your children, please contact Michael.  He will be happy to help!