Your Teen and Celebrity Role Models
Celebrities are constantly in the spotlight, filling the pages of newspapers, tabloids, magazines, and gossip websites, and appearing on entertainment television shows. The media are fascinated by problems in the private lives of celebrities, and compete to report on their partying, arrests, drug abuse, bad career choices, drunk driving, divorces, bad parenting decisions, personal mistakes, struggles, and downward spirals in general. Celebrities who project positive, healthy messages seem to be given less coverage, because drugs, sex, and train wrecks are considered more entertaining. And it seems that more and more stars who once appeared to be wholesome, such as Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera, have now shed that image.
With unwholesome celebrities constantly within kids' view and at their fingertips, parents may worry about their teenagers choosing these public personas as role models. Some kids and teens may find this sort of lifestyle appealing and may be intrigued by the lights, cameras, glamour, and glitz. But the last thing parents want is for their tween or teen to emulate Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan's wild lifestyle. Parents may also worry that the wafer-thin frames of celebrities such as Nichole Ritchie, Hillary Duff, and Mary-Kate Olson send unhealthy messages about body size – a size that is virtually unattainable for most girls. Parents who talk to their teens and establish a foundation for positive role models can help them to steer clear of this pop culture frenzy.
Role models have a huge influence on their admirers, helping to establish which values, lifestyles, and decisions they will adopt as their own. It is important for parents to keep the lines of communication open with their children, to help them decipher who is a worthy role model. To get the conversation going, follow these tips:
- Casually talk to your children about who their favorite celebrities are and why.
- Ask them if they approve of the actions or lifestyle decisions of these celebrities.
- Offer your opinion on different celebrities or other newsworthy actions that may have an influence on your child.
- Discuss with your teens what the expression "role model" means to them – ask them to list the traits that make someone worthy, and unworthy, as a role model.
- Ask them if they have any other role models, aside from celebrities.
- Discuss with your children how role models influence their decisions.
Point out to your child that many people besides celebrities can serve as positive role models. Politicians, sports figures or Olympic athletes, authors, artists, designers, entrepreneurs, family members, teachers, community members, and even responsible celebrities can demonstrate positive qualities and make responsible decisions that your child can look up to. A positive role model should try to maintain a healthy lifestyle, love learning, have a positive attitude, take responsibility for himself, model good decision-making and behavior, and treat others with respect and kindness.
Along with teaching your child to aspire to these attributes, you can guide him or her towards positive role models in other ways:
- Limit or control your child's television and Internet time, and encourage more educational media consumption. By exposing him to better quality media, he may find more worthy role models.
- Motivate your child to volunteer or work in the community. Whether she helps seniors, children, animals, or the Earth, volunteering will introduce her to interesting and active individuals in the community.
- If your fashion-forward teen relies on celebrities for the latest trends, steer her straight to the source. Fashion designers may act as more responsible role models, while providing that edge of creative inspiration.
- Encourage your child to become involved in sports; this will keep him busy with healthy activity, increase his self-esteem, and help him to focus on athletic role models.
- School is another great source of role models; teens who excel in academics often admire a teacher or scholar in their favorite subject.
With some guidance from you, your child can admire celebrities for their skills and talents while also recognizing the mistakes they are making in their personal life, decision making, and public actions.
