What’s Needed to be a Good Role Model

 Many people have different views on what makes a good role model. But in order for a celebrity to be a good role model there always has to be the one most important thing and that is positive choice making. Dr. Robyn Silverman say’s that positive choice making is important because, “Little eyes are watching and little ears are listening. When it comes to being a role model, you must be aware that the choices you make don’t only impact you but also the children who regard you as their superhero.” When celebrities are being a role model witch all of them are because they are in the Hollywood spot light they need to be careful of what they are doing because there are always people watching and celebrities need to be more careful then others because the camera is constantly on them. One little mistake and it is all over the news in an hour. Because positive choice making is the most important part of being a role model is why Selena Gomez is such a good example. In my 5 top celebrity role models blog I talked about how she realizes her fans look at every move she makes and is extra cautious because of it.

Making good choices also helps lead kids in the right direction from staying away from drugs, alcohol, ect. So in order for someone to be a good celebrity they have to make good life choices themselves and also encourage the youth to follow in their footsteps.

Further reading

http://susan-carney.suite101.com/positive-role-models-for-teens-a33604

http://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Teenage-Role-Model

Jackass!

 Most of us have seen Jackass and if not at least have heard of it. Jackass is a show of men how do wild stunts and hurt themselves in extreme ways to get a good laugh from their audience. I believe that teens who watch this show are being influenced to do these wild stunts that can cause serious injury or even death if done incorrect. Although in every episode or movie Jackass has produced it has a clear warning at the beginning for views not to reenact what they are about to see that it can cause serious injury or death. Lets be honest here, hearing something like that may make a teen to go out and reenact it even more because rebellion is in our nature. We may not ever want to do something but as soon as someone says not to do well now we want to do it just to be rebellious. These stunts shown on Jackass are a lot more serious so they aren’t preformed by lots of teens just the really rebellious ones. They see it on TV and think it’s so funny and so cool but don’t think what can go wrong.

There are many cases where mostly teenage boys are reenacting these stunts and hurt themselves or their friends. For example, “Michael Smith had been using his SUV to tow friend Cameron Bieberle who was sitting in a shopping trolley at up to 42mph.” this was a pretty cool stunt to watch on the show. I got a great laugh from it. But nobody was laughing when Smith reenacted it and killed his friend. Bieberle’s father told theFlorida newspaper his son had been watching Jackass on television and thinks the show had ‘absolutely something to do with the accident.’

Jackass although funny for entertainment purposes can become very bad in influencing teens and being a root cause of serious injury and even death to many. Jackass is a bad example and teens should not look up to it or ever try and copy it.

Further Reading

http://www.mydeathspace.com/article/2006/08/01/Bobbi_MacKinnon_(16)_was_killed_when_she_was_thrown_75_feet_from_a_merry_go_round_and_landed_in_the_street

http://www.cpyu.org/Page.aspx?id=76822

 

Superman!

 Men don’t have to fit the stereotypes to be considered a real man. Not all celebrities portray that a real man has to be violent, brave, independent, buff, never cry, or many other stereotype characteristics of a real man. I think one of the greatest examples is Superman himself. Christopher Reeves is the man that played Superman in the 70’s and 80’s. He was the man of steel and had all the stereotype characteristics of a real man. He was Superman of course he was a real man. Sadly on May 27, 1995 he had an accident being thrown from his horse and was paralyzed from the neck down. Superman, the man of steel, could no longer even take care of himself and walk. He no longer was a physically fit man because he couldn’t do much at all. Just because he was paralyzed did it make him any less of a man? No! He was still the same person just now handicapped. A handicapped MAN!

Someone for teens to lookup to before his use of steroids for a real man is Mark Maguire. He too was a very fit man. The reason he is an example is because he openly cry’s on television for something he cares about, sexually abused children. He does lots of charity work to prevent child abuse. The media say’s real men don’t cry? Sherri Rosen a writer for The Good Man Project says, “I raised four boys. The culture told me and them that it wasn’t okay to cry. I said to the boys” **** the culture, its okay for you to cry.” How could I have possibly raised four healthy boys into men if they couldn’t cry?” It is healthy and normal for men to cry that way they do not emotionally shutdown. In my eyes as long as you are a male, you are a real man. It doesn’t matter if you’re strong, brave, independent, caring, emotional, fat, nerdy, violent, or anything else you are still a true man.

Further Reading

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-20025417-10391709.html

http://www.ucg.org/christian-living/real-men-dont-cry/

Real Men Are Tough

 The media is telling young boys (teens) that they aren’t real men unless they are tough and strong along with other characteristics. If we look at media we are more likely going to see a male character as being buff, violent, independent, strong, ect. We hardly ever see them crying, working with others, accept help, ect. Why? Because if a man shows emotion or any of the listed characteristics he is not a real man. Basically the Media is stereotyping what a real man consists of and if they do not meet these expectations they aren’t a real man. Mark Nickerson tells us that, “Media stereotypes have extra impact because they create images based on these assumptions, helping to shape men’s own views about how they should act and how successful they are as men.” The media is helping shape what boys, young men (teens), and men all think about themselves and how they should act to meet the man requirements.

The media has always portrayed men in a macho kind of way but let’s look at the drastic changes it has gone through in history. We can start off with the original James Bond who was a tall skinny Shaun Connery who held a .32 caliber Walther PPK (small pistol). Later we then have Clint Eastwood who is also a slim fitted guy in good shape and he held a 45 Magnum (very large hand gun). Next is where we have a huge jump for the image of what is masculine. Sylvester Stallone as Rambo who is in very good shape with large muscles and has many large guns and explosives. He shows off his muscles with hardly ever wearing a shirt. Last we can take a look at Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator who is a crazy huge body builder, has tons of weapons but now his body is also the weapon. What do we see from the history? All the men get larger built and the gun size increases. As history has progressed the imaged media is saying what is manly has also grown. Teen boys are seeing this image and think that they need to be a real man like many of these media figures and be crazy buff, seek out adventure, be independent, be violent and not afraid of danger, ect. Realistically not many teens can be these characters from the media but does it make them any less of a man? No!

Further Reading

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3exzMPT4nGI

http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/men_and_masculinity/masculinity_defining.cfm

Five Good Celebrity Role Models

 Most of my blogs have been about all negative influences celebrities have on teenagers. Today we are going to talk about five good celebrities. These are celebrities that all teens can look up to no matter what beliefs or morals you hold, they are all good examples that teens should look up to.

 

Of course number one is going to be Tim Tebow. Most know him as the Denver Broncos quarterback but he is now currently the quarterback for the New York Jets. Tim is such an example because he is so different then most star athletes. Tim is best known for his stance on being a virgin until marriage and also the famous Tebowing (praising God on one knee). Saving yourself for marriage is not something many people do anymore and he sets a good example for the teens of this generation trying to be that example. Tebowing can be look at as a great example even if you are not a believer of Jesus Christ like Tim Tebow because what it shows is unselfishness. Most athletes today after making a big play or scoring do an absurd touchdown dance or put the other team down and exemplify themselves. Tebow gives the credit to God and not himself. He gives teens the idea that they do not have to act all “bad” to show they are a good athlete. It isn’t all about you. He is an excellent example of good sportsmanship witch is rare now a days. Also Tim Tebow is building a hospital in the Philippinesto help the sick and less fortunate. Tebow says “that the NFL gives him such a platform and he uses it to influence the next generation because that is his passion.”

 

Second we have Taylor Swift who I personally do not like but is a great example to teens because that is the majority of her fans. Taylorhas become such an amazing hit over the past few years and has grown with huge popularity because of her music. Tayloris a good example because she is young and despite her fame she stays away from drugs, alcohol, and smoking. Of course these are good things but many celebrities have these attributes but what makes Taylor stand out is her inspiration to young girls to work hard just like she did, also all the charity that she is involved in. Lissa Lynn tells us that Taylor “donated all the proceeds from her merchandise sales at the 2008 Country Music Festival to the Nashville Area Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund and the National Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.” Also she donated 100,000 dollars to Red Cross. There are many other smaller charities that she takes part in such as inTennessee helping protect children from online predators, St. Judes Research Hospital, and Victory Junction Gang.

 

Kevin Jonas is my number three best role model because he recently was encouraging his brothers not to have sex until they are married. Depending on your stance about abstinence this could be a great example but what I see as the greater example for teens is that they most likely have younger siblings just like Kevin does. He was encouraging his siblings to do well and stay out of trouble and this is what everyday teens should do for their siblings as well. What a great example and good big brother.

 

Selena Gomez is also a great female role model for teens just like Taylorswift because she is young, stays out of trouble, has a younger fan base, and is extremely involved in charity. Selena is the youngest person in history to become an ambassador of UNICEF. “Selena has travelled to the Congo with the ENOUGH Project to witness firsthand the difficulties that Congolese citizens are struggling with due to war, poverty and conflict.” She is a true example that despite age you can still get involved and make a difference.

 

Last but not least Larry Fitzgerald wide receiver from the Arizona Cardinals. Larry is all about “giving back”. Off the field he spends lots of his time giving back to the community by supporting kids and charities for breast cancer. He is huge about helping the youth and their education even starting his own charity called The Larry Fitzgerald First Down Fund.

 

All five of these people are great examples for youth to look up too and follow in their foot steps as best as they can. Choosing good role models like these compared to the bad role models in my last blog can really make a drastic change in a teenager’s life for the good rather then the bad.

 

Further reading

 

http://popcrush.com/selena-gomez-congo-unicef-trip/

http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/970-taylor-swift

Five Bad Celebrity Role Models

In today’s media world there are far more bad examples for teens then there are good. I will list and discuss five bad celebrities that should not be looked up to ever.

Miley Cyrus is our number one bad example; she has such popularity with younger children and teens because of her acting career and music career. Many teens look up to her as a role model and want to become just like her but over the past two years Miley has been getting herself into trouble. According to an AOL poll Miley,”The 18-year old singer and actress has topped the list for the second year in a row due to her scandalous behavior over the past 12 months.” What behavior has Miley been partaking in to make her the worst role model? Let’s start off with the teen choice awards when Miley won many awards and preformed Party in theUSA. While performing at the Teen Choice Awards she pole dances in front of a live crowd and millions watching on TV. That doesn’t set a great example. She has more recently been caught smoking salvia. Also she was recorded giving lap dances in a club. Miley has not been setting a great example for teens and should no longer be looked up too.

JerseyShorecast are going to be our number two worst role models. A life that is rewarded for partying hard, using foul language, getting arrested and having sexual relations all the time is not something that teens should be looking up to and think is cool. The people of the show are being rewarded and paid for the party life they are living on TV and send a message that teens can also party and have life easy. That is not the case and should not be looked up to by teens.

Lindsay Lohan easily makes it to number three. We all remember her cute face from the Parent Trap and later transition into movies like Mean Girls and Freaky Friday. Lindsey then began to hang out with Paris Hilton and Britney Spears two other very bad role models, and began a life of excessive partying. Her partying life led to drug abuse and drinking and driving witch landed her in jail and rehab. This is no example to be setting to fans especially the young and teen crowd.

Chris Brown makes the top five as the only male bad role model. Although what made him a bad role model happened many years ago it is still out in the media and continues to make him a bad role model. He was charged for assault and battery against Rihanna and yet Rihanna stayed with him. This is a bad example to teens that are dating and makes abuse seem okay and normal when it is not and should never be something to put up with.

Last we have Taylor Momsen who is only 17 years of age. She is lead singer of Pretty Reckless and actress on Gossip Girl. Tayloris an interesting character that is very out there with very scandals clothing, speaks quite shrud, and openly smokes. Because she is only 17 this is a bad example for teens who might say well she does it so can I. The most outrageous of Taylor’s scandals would have to be at one of her concerts she flashes her boobs to the crowd. Again this is not an example for teens to follow.

Further Reading

http://www.radicalparenting.com/2010/08/24/jersey-shore-the-show-that%e2%80%99s-influencing-your-child/

http://www.glamourvanity.com/scandals/miley-cyrus-voted-worst-celebrity-role-model-again/

 

Media Stars Promote Teen Pregnancy

As entertainment continues to gain popularity each year the celebrity life becomes glamour to lots of teens. Recently media has glamorized teen pregnancy even though this is not something teens should be looking up to. For the past few years MTV has had a big hit with shows like Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant. Sure these shows maybe fun to watch for entertainment but the shows can influence teens in drastic ways. The shows make having a child very young seem okay and fun. It turns these girls who got pregnant really young into celebrities. Carol Weston, who writes an advice column for Girls’ Life magazine, says “the glamorous images of pregnant celebrities can inspire young girls to become mothers. Teens get the idea that pregnancy is fun.” We all think that babies are cute and are so much fun but they are also a lot of work and responsibility, not to mention the financial aspect it takes to take care of a child. Getting pregnant means a possibility of not even finishing high school because your responsibility is now your child. Kimberly Hughes, a 16-year-old from Glen Rock, N.J., who reads US Weekly says, “Baby pictures in particular send a certain message, she says. It’s like look at what you can do if you have a baby. Look at these cool perks you get out of it.” Even teens themselves see the messages these celebrities are putting out there even if they are unintentional. Very few celebrities do recognize that the choices they make are seen by their fans and can influence them and their decisions. For example one teen mom who recognized her unintentional influence on teens is Jamie Lynn Spears, she told OK Magazine that, “I did feel responsible for the young girls and the mothers who I probably confused and let down. I apologize for that. But I wasn’t trying to glamorize teen pregnancy.” She noticed that she had an influence on her fans (teens mostly) and I do applaud her for realizing her mistake and sharing she did not want to promote teen pregnancy. She at least had the knowledge that she did make some fans want to follow in her foot steps. Unintentional or not media is glamorizing teen pregnancy and this is not something that teens should be looking up to or wanting to take part in.

Further Reading

http://jjie.org/price-of-teen-pregnancy-reality-shows-influence-teen-pregnancy-rates/38668

http://www.palyvoice.com/node/26681

Celebrities Posotive Inspiration on Sex

The celebrities teens choose to look up to do make an impact on them and may shape who they become in the future. If teens are constantly watching shows or movies or even reading magazines about sex they will conform and believe it is okay to have sex whenever, with whoever, and as much as possible. Sex is a moral issue and is delt with differently by different people. Some believe it is okay whenever, others only if it’s with a person you love, and others not until marriage. Whatever your stance is on sex there are good celebrity role models out there that deal with sex for teens. Because people have different views on sex the role model will differ and that’s okay because they are all still positive looks on sex.

 

First off some amazingly popular celebrities that are true inspirations and good role models dealing with sex are Kevin Jonas, Tim Tebow, and Rebecca St. James. These three people are positive role models because they are all people that have or are practicing abstinence until marriage. They all believe that you should wait and only have sex with the one person that you marry. These are all very popular people that many teenagers look up too and seeing good qualities in these people compared to others may change a teen’s view on sex. With a large fan base I am sure these celebrities have impacted lots of teens.

For the people that do not believe in abstinence there are still other celebrities that have positive messages about sex. Lady Gaga is very active in promoting safe sex for the younger generation. GMA interview Lady Gaga and she said, “I want to get people started at home at a younger age with their children, talking about HIV, talking about AIDS, talking about safe sex” Lady Gaga is so active in promoting safe sex that she wore a condom inspired out fit on Good Morning America in 2011.

Although peoples views of sex may very there are celebrities out there to give teens a positive idea about sex.

Further Reading

http://www.aolnews.com/2009/07/23/tim-tebow-says-hes-still-a-virgin-saving-himself-for-marriage/

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/singer-rebecca-st-james-defends-sexual-purity-and-tim-tebow-on-foxs-hannit/#

Celebrity Influence on Teen Drug Usage

 

I’m sure most of us can remember when the movie Pineapple Express came out. It was an instant hit with the younger generation. Seth Rogan is a very funny actor and this makes him very likeable. Well Pineapple Express is a movie all about weed. It makes smoking marijuana look fun and cool because when you get high all of these exciting things happen to you that wouldn’t happen unless you were high. It gives weed a very appealing look to it and they don’t show that it is actually harmful but fun and okay to smoke it. This movie is an example of exactly what child.net tells us, “Celebrities often cultivate behaviors that are bad, such as drug addiction, and make teens believe these lifestyles to be cool and exciting. Teens see their favorite movie stars or singers doing drugs and they think they should too.” Why do teens think they should also be doing drugs? The movies don’t show the repercussions most of the time of the drug and if they do they make it look exciting not deadly and scary. If it looks exciting in the movies the curious mind of a teenager will want to experiment. Of course when teens are shown the truth about what drugs can do to you like with Charlie Sheen they will not think it’s so cool because they can see the destruction it has caused.

Alexa Pozniak from News tells us that, “40 percent of teens in 2000 said programs make drugs seem OK.” It blows my mind that celebrities have this big of an influence on our young people. It’s so odd that these illegal substances can be portrayed as good things in movies. Using drugs in movies (although is fake) still makes younger kids want to experiment for themselves. Not only are movie stars having a large impact on younger kids but also athletes. Hoffman from Procon.org says’ “approximately 20% of high school age males and females suggested that professional athletes do influence their decision to use AS.” AS is anabolic steroid. Teens are influenced to use all different kinds of drugs from weed to steroids. Hoffman continued on to say, “The results of this study do not provide conclusive evidence on the relationship between sport figures and adolescent drug use, but they do suggest that adolescents are influenced by media exposure of their heroes using AS.” He is saying here that teens are not only using drugs because of star athletes but it is obvious that they do influence them quite a bit.

Further reading

http://www.deborahkingcenter.com/resources/celebrities/

http://www.child.net/articles/drugs-alcohol/

http://www.livestrong.com/article/371876-the-pros-cons-of-the-influence-of-sports-athletes-on-kids/

 

Celebrities Influence on Teen Drinking

In the media, movies that are targeted toward teens are movies like American Pie, College, Varsity Blues, ect. What is all one thing that these movies and many others similar to these all have in common? Teenage Drinking! High School and College aged students are targeted and these movies put the image of this is how high school should be or this is what we should do in college. Child.net tells us that, “In television, movies and magazines, celebrities are often portrayed drinking heavily or in excess. This can be harmful to teens that pick up on these behaviors and think it is normal to drink excessively like their favorite celebrity.” These movie stars do have a large impact on teenagers because even if the Celebrity isn’t their favorite but they see drinking as the norm for their age they will slowly conform to the idea. It kind of like what Hitler said, “Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it” If the media and famous celebrities keep saying drinking is “cool” or normal for teens to drink and show it and say it long enough they eventually will believe it is true.

Carmen Chai, from Global News said, “Watching scenes of celebrities drinking or buying alcohol was more effective in influencing teens’ alcohol consumption than having alcohol in the home or parents who regularly drink.” If celebrities have a larger impact on teens then their own parents do we really need to be cautious of what we allow teens to watch or let them believe as the norms.

Not all celebrities have the negative affect on teens there are many that do not drink and do not support it. For example you may know him as Spider Man, Tobey Maguire, has not had a single drop of booze in 15 years. According to Jessica David from Glamour Magazine, who interviewed Tobey. She tells us that he struggled with drinking booze as a teen and he realized it had an affect on his career and gave it up and has been dry for 15 years now. People like Tobey are the celebrities that teen should look up too, he had a drinking problem and tells us it messed him up as a teen and because of that he hasn’t drank since. Teens can use stories like this to encourage them instead of conforming to the “norm” of most media stars.

Further reading

http://www.divinecaroline.com/22113/111919-negative-influences-celebrities-teens

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2718991&page=1