As quoted by Hamlet in the play by William Shakespeare, "To be or not to
be, that is the question"(Fetzer 360). When on the subject of President
Clinton, some would rather he "not be" than "to be". Some
look down upon him because of recent accusations against him concerning him
having a sexual relationship with someone other than his wife and then lying
about not taking part in any of his accused shenanigans. The whole ordeal has
upset many parents about how their children will react to all that is going on
about the Clinton scandal, but still some parents find it as an educational and
somewhat profitable lesson to teach their children. The Presidency is a highly
honorable task and the President has disgraced his office. As leader of the free
world, it is his responsibility to set a good example. To little surprise, there
are some countries that are angered by the way the President has handled himself
lately. The Clinton scandal is giving parents a chance to have serious talks to
their children, justifying the act of lying in the minds of children, and giving
countries a reason to look down upon the United States. Due to President
Clinton's actions concerning these allegations, there have been three
substantial and obvious affects on today's society. First, the scandal is giving
parents a chance to sit down and have serious talks with their children.
Children are interested in learning about what is going on with the President
and why he is in such big trouble, so parents find this as an opportune time to
talk about lying and lying's drastic consequences. As stated by Chuck Green,
"I wrote that parents can cite no finer example than Bill Clinton not as an
example of getting away with lying but as an example of its
consequences"(Green n.pag.). The problem with this is parents sometimes get
into a sticky situation when they don’t know what to tell their children, but
Chuck Green replies by saying, "Just tell your kids the truth - that lying
doesn't pay, even if you are the President. Sooner or later, you'll pay a heavy
price"(Green n.pag). Lying is not the only major issue that the President's
problems have brought to many parents' attention. Sex has become another issue
that parents can discuss with their children because of the recent scandals. A
lot of parents choose not to tell their children about "the birds and the
bees," but the scandal almost forces them to talk about it. "Mr.
Clinton's troubles also are putting parents on the spot when it comes to
explaining sex, which is a good thing"(MacDonald n.pag.). When asked about
what she thought about the Clinton scandal, Amy McMahon said that, "She and
other parents and experts say that discussions with children about the
President's on going problems may border on 'distasteful' and 'disgusting'.
Some, though, see it as an opportunity to talk about family values, appropriate
and inappropriate behaviors and what happens when people get into
trouble"(MacDonald n.pag.). Sex is a part of everyone's life, and it has
the necessity to be discussed with a child eventually; this inappropriate
situation allows for a good discussion in this area. Next, in the minds of
children, the President's lying has significantly justified the act of lying.
Children see the President as a role model, which they look up to and sometimes
imitate in actions. A boy said of the President, "He can't lie like the
rest of us, 'cause he's a role model"(Shales n.pag.). "If kids find
the President as a role model and they see and hear of the President doing these
bad things, it might get imbedded in their heads that what the President has
done is all right"(Hoover n.pag.). Looking at the situation from another
standpoint, some might say that they see the President doing bad things then
they will learn from his mistakes, right? That is not true. Parents have tried
to teach their children right from wrong and they have always told them to get a
role model to look up to. If the President is a role model and so many kids look
up to him, then they will think what he is doing is the right thing. Then the
parents will go and tell their kid what their role model did was wrong and the
children get confused and don’t know what to think. The fact that the
President is such a role model was evidently not taken into account when Clinton
considered the recourse of his actions. This negligence has forced families to
deal with issues and problems that should otherwise be left up to the parents.
@@@@@@ In the famous words of the 43rd President of the United States, words
which will forever ring in the ears of all those that heard them, "I did
not have a sexual relationship with that woman"(Starr 23). Despite that
statement, the President later admitted that he had had an affair. If that’s
all that can be remembered of a person who is supposed to be one of the most
prestigious and most honorable people in the world, then it can be assumed that
there is something very wrong. Society needs to learn from the mistakes of the
President and parents to learn to be more prepared for if anything like this
happens again so that their children can be taught the right ideas. How can
parents teach their children right from wrong when the President is setting a
bad example? All in all, while the President's actions have had many effects,
both good and bad, he has put himself and the nation in a very difficult
position, one that could have

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Under Fire; Talking to Kids; Parents Face Tough Decisions about
Discussions." Cincinnati Enquirer 12 Sept. 1998, East ed.: A3 [Online]
Proquest. 2 Dec. 1998. Hoover, Barbara. "Psychologists Have Tips on
Explaining Clinton Affair to Kids." Detroit News 19 Aug. 1998, Final ed.:
e1 [Online] Proquest. 2 Dec. 1998. Shales, Tom. "Clinton: Smart Talk to and
from Kids." Washington Post 29 Sept. 1998 , Final ed.:D1 [Online] Proquest.
4 Dec. 1998. Fetzer, Scott. "MacBeth" World Book Encyclopedia 1988 ed.