This petition is a plea for respect. We call on everyone, whether a fan of Michael Jackson or not, to join our cause in seeking to protect the rights of Jackson's young children, and to protect them from exploitation. It has been alarming to observe that since their father's passing, the media and much of the public have turned their eye away from his career accomplishments, focusing instead on his young family.

The press routinely treats Michael Jackson with great malice, and without compassion. Media outlets now pander to corporate greed, so devoid of decency that they are attempting to do to these children the very same thing that destroyed their father.

Have news organizations lost sight of what it is to honor the privacy of celebrities and their children, especially those who are young, impressionable and vulnerable? Has the integrity of the press been replaced with the dissemination of senseless, destructive rumors of little value, all in the name of a spike in ratings or readership?

Stalking these little ones, allowing the public access into what should be private family matters, is nothing short of underhanded and disgusting, and should never be considered a viable tactic by any organization claiming to have an ounce of journalistic integrity.

When will this insatiable curiosity cease? Has the public's need to know really plunged to such a depth of depravity? Is there no line that will not be crossed? It is a pity that the media vultures have found new victims for their greed. The exploitation of Michael Jackson and his family should not be fodder for the massesit has only been a few weeks since his untimely death. His children need time to grieve in private.

It has become all too clear why Jackson chose to keep his children's identity safe from the prying eyes of the press. Unfortunately, he is no longer here to protect them, so we as a society must do what we can to keep the children safe.

To those in charge of generating news stories, we ask that you please allow these grieving children a modicum of respect and compassion. It is disrespectful and hurtful to splash every salacious bit of trivia on the online feeds, or over the air. No news organization with any shred of credibility would victimize children in the pursuit of profit and ratings.

Michael Jackson's children deserve to have peace of mind. They are entitled to mourn their father's passing without the media's constant scrutiny and vicious rumor-mongering.

Therefore, we humbly request that people and organizations no longer contribute to such vicious, insensitive media sensationalism. These children do not deserve the treatment they have received; they did not ask for the high-profile life into which they were born. They are innocent, and they are grieving, and they deserve to be left alone.

By standing united against tyranny, and by showing that communities care, we can make a difference.