Children deserve to be told the truth

After telling them that Jack was in Africa, when he was actually in prison, and rushing to the shops on the way home from the prison to get some ?African? gifts; all of which was broadcast on Living TVs ?Jade?, I was worried she might also try keeping them in the dark about what the whole nation knows is happening to their mother.

On the same program, Jade made the rather disturbing claim that her kids find things easier to accept, like her going bald for example, once they?ve seen it visually portrayed in the media. It would not surprise me if her sons have, in some way at least, been aware of everything as it?s happened; such is the extent of the media coverage. Even if every attempt has been made to ensure they don?t see certain aspects of it; no doubt their fellow classmates, not generally known for their guile, would have filled them in. And, the extra confusion and heart ache caused by the awareness that everyone else knows more than you do about your personal tragedy, isn’t something easily borne by any adult, never mind a child.

Ironically, for a lot of us, death is encountered more in childhood, than at any other time in early to middle age. I recall being completely uprooted by an overwhelming feeling of complete shock, sadness and confusion, when my grandparents died one after the other in the space of a decade. My granddad had lung cancer, and I remember phoning home one day and the phone being answered by a mysterious ?heavy breather? that I kept telling everybody about; not understanding why no-one else seemed to be concerned about it. I then got it into my head that people I loved would go to hospital and then ?disappear?, so I kicked and screamed throughout my childhood, whenever anyone I cared about went to hospital.

I know I’m not alone in being able to empathise, in some way, with what Bobby and Freddie are going through at the moment. I just hope the situation is being addressed by those around them with sensitivity and honesty, and is not being viewed as simply another potential headline.

Posted 04:06 PM on Mon Mar 02 2009

By Freak

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