By Lottie De'Boer
In this day and age, pop stars are plastered all over our screens and blasted on all radio channels, we can't escape them. Nor can we escape every inch of their private lives as it's all over the tabloid newspapers and in today's celebrity obsessed society there are even magazines devoted to celebrity culture. So it is no wonder that the children of this generation are looking to pop stars as role models when it is all they ever see.
But with today's celebrity gossip culture, we don't just see the good bits of their lifestyle. We see every bit, including the bad life choices they make. But in our kid's minds, they see these celebrities still living the high and mighty lifestyle despite their poor life choices, which leads them to believe it's ok to make those bad decisions, and in some ways it has even increased the celebrity's fame and presence in the media.
Those aren't the only concerns either. Many children will have been brought up to know wrong and right, and will most likely be able to distinguish that what these celebrities are doing is wrong. But when it comes to what they put on our TV screens in music videos, and what they sing about is something we don't always pause to consider a threat, as we are too wrapped up in their private lives to worry about their professional lives.
It isn't as if the celebrities start out being bad role models. When their career starts out and their popularity is on the rise they are fresh faced and saying 'don't do drugs' or singing about love and friendship and other lovely things. But then when their career peaks, and someone else comes on the scene with a fresh face and attitude, and the limelight shifts, the media and record labels start to put pressure on the celebrity to get back to where they were, and steal back the limelight at any cost. And that pressure has led to famous breakdowns and even prison sentences.
And it can sometimes be all too easy to blame a celebrity role model for our own children's poor decisions in life. It is often used as a scapegoat to skirt around the reality, which is that all problems start at home. We bring our kids up, not the celebrities, and we shouldn't be so quick to blame a complete stranger who has happened to make a mistake in their own life, for the mistakes made in our children's lives.
But with today's celebrity gossip culture, we don't just see the good bits of their lifestyle. We see every bit, including the bad life choices they make. But in our kid's minds, they see these celebrities still living the high and mighty lifestyle despite their poor life choices, which leads them to believe it's ok to make those bad decisions, and in some ways it has even increased the celebrity's fame and presence in the media.
Those aren't the only concerns either. Many children will have been brought up to know wrong and right, and will most likely be able to distinguish that what these celebrities are doing is wrong. But when it comes to what they put on our TV screens in music videos, and what they sing about is something we don't always pause to consider a threat, as we are too wrapped up in their private lives to worry about their professional lives.
It isn't as if the celebrities start out being bad role models. When their career starts out and their popularity is on the rise they are fresh faced and saying 'don't do drugs' or singing about love and friendship and other lovely things. But then when their career peaks, and someone else comes on the scene with a fresh face and attitude, and the limelight shifts, the media and record labels start to put pressure on the celebrity to get back to where they were, and steal back the limelight at any cost. And that pressure has led to famous breakdowns and even prison sentences.
And it can sometimes be all too easy to blame a celebrity role model for our own children's poor decisions in life. It is often used as a scapegoat to skirt around the reality, which is that all problems start at home. We bring our kids up, not the celebrities, and we shouldn't be so quick to blame a complete stranger who has happened to make a mistake in their own life, for the mistakes made in our children's lives.