Whitney Houston's 'Shocking' Death: A Teaching Moment for our Children

When Whitney Houston passed away Saturday, Facebook and Twitter were flooded with comments about how "shocking" and "surprising" her death was. But to me the shock was that she lived to the age of 48. Her death did not surprise me at all.

Just like with Michael Jackson, Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Amy Winehouse and Chris Farley. Ask yourself what is more shocking - the fact that they died, or that they lived as long as they did?

It goes without saying that regardless of how talented or gifted these people were, they weren't role models. Children, teenagers and even us adults need role models who live a life worth emulating.

All of us, in particular children, deserve role models who are not addicted to prescription pills, illegal drugs or alcohol.

Our role models should be our parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. As adults we have the potential to shape the lives of the children around us. We need to be aware that the little eyes watching us will grow up and will likely come face-to-face with the very substances Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Elvis and many others became addicted to. We also have to be aware of the fact that our children emulate us and are aware of the "celebrity worship" we are all too quick to engage in. Giving our childhood idols a free pass for bad behavior only makes it that much more likely that our children will identify with their badly behaving pop culture icons - do we really want that?

Will we model good behavior for our children, or will we leave that responsibility to Hollywood celebrities who need role models themselves? The real tragedy would be letting our children become molded by celebrities who are famous for their talents, but not for who they are as people. 

You want "shocking?" How about the feeling of surprise and celebrity when your child tells you that he wants to be like you.