It's a pretty well-known fact that we live in a world where people want to know what happens in the next person's life. You could say that some of us are a lot more curious than others. I guess you could also say that's why I became a journalist. I grew up an inquisitive kid and turned into an even more "I need to know more" adult. In some cases, you could say that being curious helps; for example, the little old lady in my uptown Manhattan apartment building who lives on the first floor. Every single time the building door opens you'll catch her peeking through the crack of her narrowly opened front door. I assume she does this because she wants to know who's coming in and out. I value her for it, but for me it's also my way of knowing she's doing well.
You might be wondering where I'm going with this, but I'll get to the meat of this piece in a moment. Take a look at my title "Celebrities, You Know They Are People Too." There are loads and loads of people who love to hear and read the latest gossip about their favorite celebrity. It's been said that people in the public eye should know that their private life is fair game to the public. Now having been in the public eye as a reporter here and there in various markets across the country, I know first hand for this is true. Which is why I would seldom, if ever, post pictures of my family. I did this for many reasons, but mostly because I wanted to keep them safe. I didn't want people to know who I spent my private time with or whom I hold near and dear to my heart.
Just get to the point already Kelsey, I hear you all saying. Recently, People magazine joined in the pledge with celebrity blogging site JustJared.com to not run a story or publish photos involving celebrity children that were not authorized first. In my opinion this is a marvelous idea and this is coming from the person who, like I said before, is extremely curious and thrills on learning more. With that said, there should be boundaries and I think the children of celebrities are a boundary. This subject just didn't come out of thin air, we have heard countless times from celebrities who say the paparazzi constantly hound them for photographs and at times they feel like their life and that of their children could be in danger. To make that point actresses Halle Berry and Jennifer Garner took their concerns all the way to the California State Legislature. Then there are recent parents like Kristen Bell who decided to reach out to people on the other end of the spectrum, the bloggers and magazines themselves. The people who more than likely purchase those paparazzi snapped photos and run them. One of those sites is justjared.com. I spoke with the creative mind behind the site, Jared Eng to get his take on the situation.
Jared was in Los Angeles when we chatted. We spoke through a series of emails and he tells me that his site is extremely happy to help lead the charge in what is being referred to as the #NoKidsPolicy.
"This issue has been on my mind for a few years, and for the past year Just Jared actively scaled back on content featuring photos of celebrities' children," he wrote me. "In addition, we always supported celebrities who reached out directly asking that their kids be kept out of the public eye."
In Jared's eyes it's just that simple. I couldn't agree more. No one wants the face of their child plastered over gossip magazines and sites without their permission. Not everyone reading the material is likely to just take in the information. There are people in this world who use that material to stalk and harass. I think it's healthy to be inquisitive and to want to learn or know more, but at a certain point it becomes borderline obsessive and unhealthy; especially when there are children involved.
Whether you're in the public eye or not, we all deserve to spend quality time with our families without being photographed and hounded. I think in this case it's important to remember that golden rule, "treat others how you want to be treated." In this case, I would say it applies.