Being a parent is tough, especially when you have children that tend to not get along, and nothing irks me more than when my kids are constantly telling on each other. But, my irkiness extends beyond that; I don’t like when they tell on their friends or classmates or teachers to me either. In general, I don’t like the whole tattletale syndrome.
And, I was a tattletale when I was a kid. I told on my brother all the time. I enjoyed nothing more than getting his little butt into trouble, but as an adult, I have grown out of that whole stage of life, and now when I hear my children tattling it sounds like whining and when I hear an adult tattling it just sounds like gossip.
As a child, you tell a parent because that is what you are supposed to do. You haven’t necessarily developed the skills to confront the issue or problem and work it out in a rational and calm way, so you ask the parent to intercede on your behalf, and as annoying as it can be, it makes perfect sense. But, when it is an adult who is doing the tattling, there is just no sense in it.
For instance, as an adult, is it necessary to tell on a child? I don’t think so. Doesn’t it make more sense to talk to the child’s parent, rather than the teacher or an administrator? Would you not talk to the parent because you are afraid of the consequences? Are you afraid you might get beat up? I understand it if you don’t know the other parent, but what if you do know them and have for years?
How about this scenario; say you read something or overheard something about someone because you were eavesdropping. Is it okay to then go and run back to the person you read about or overheard about and tattle? Do you have so much time on your hands that you can waste it spying? Does it give you pleasure to run around and hurt people and get involved in things that don’t have anything to do with you and you know nothing about?
Imagine if you were out to dinner and saw something you weren’t supposed to see. Would you go and run back and tell? Isn’t the smart thing to do, before you can possibly make a huge mistake, to go to the source and see what was really going on? Isn’t it always smarter to go to the source first? What if what you think you saw or heard wasn’t really what you thought and you make a huge mistake and cause an issue where one doesn’t need to be caused because of being a tattletale?
After all, aren’t we all supposed to be adults now and past the gossip and tattletale phase of our lives, where we should have the common courtesy of going to the source first before running off at the mouth and causing more issues than necessary?
Here’s a life lesson for you all, if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t get involved in other peoples business. Gossip and being a tattletale is just not cool.
This public service announcement was made purely on a fictional basis and not based on any facts at all. It was based on a conversation that was had around a dinner table I found interesting and decided to blog about. None of the above scenarios are true or factual.
About Lee Brochstein
