Okay, I tried to avoid discussing this (hint: PH)

I'm touching briefly on this topic, and if you care to not hear anymore about Paris Hilton, then please stop now. Come back tomorrow for a new post, for this is still "Post Every Day" month, and you will only have to wait until tomorrow for me to talk about something else. :-)

First, I had my fun with my "Liberate Paris" post, but I also noticed that quite a few people enjoyed Paris' recent re-incarceration a little TOO much. Yeah, I agree that she is a whiny little brat who showed her true colors Friday. But when you think about it, who's really to blame for the way Paris currently behaves? You got it: Mommy and Daddy. Granted, Paris is an adult now, and is actually responsible for her own behavior now, but Paris didn't get this way on her own. She had to be raised this way to get used to getting away with what she had been able to get away with. Hopefully, Paris' very public and very embarrassing tantrum likewise punished her parents over the way they failed to raise their daughter.

I'm not intending to make this a post so much about Paris as it is about how children can be raised the wrong way. It also goes to show the importance of proper parenting. Parents raising their children right will go a long way to help their children live responsible lives. The one lesson that parents need to learn first is how to tell their children "NO" and to stick to it. When the lesson that there are limits in life is learned in front of a judge, then it's a lesson that the parents failed to teach their children. I'm hoping that this whole public spectacle will have taught other parents at least that much. Granted, parents can do just about everything right in raising their child, and the child could STILL go wrong, but the odds are much, much better if the parents help instill discipline in their children than if they don't. It's amazing that this lesson keeps being in need of learning over and over, but if the need for it still remains, then we need to keep teaching it for as often as we need to.

As for Paris herself, she recently stated that she will begin "learning and growing". I hope so, and I'm totally sincere about that. In fact, I'm praying that she truly will be "learning and growing". This appearance before the judge is a wake-up call. She's been fortunate so far that she hasn't killed herself AND others with her drunk driving incidents. In a very real way, that judge just may have saved her life. The way Paris was going isn't one that leads one to become a better person, and God bless this judge who had the clarity of thinking AND courage to make the right stand and hold Paris accountable for her actions. One day, I hope that Paris thanks that judge for his courage, because that judge has done more for her in that one ruling than her parents have in Paris' whole life. Time will tell if Paris comes out of this a better person. I hope and pray that she does, because she can then turn around and help save the lives of other young women who are following her path to destruction.

In other words, this story just may end up having a happy ending. For the sake of Paris, let's hope so.