Role Models | Teen Ink

Role Models

March 1, 2010
By moniquepena BRONZE, Rockford, Michigan
moniquepena BRONZE, Rockford, Michigan
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Do you know what a role model is? Do you have a role model? Well role models are people you look up to/ idolize, someone that is nice, kind, and someone you can trust. As for me I have a role model his name is Michael Jordan he’s the best basketball I’ve ever seen, I look up to him because he plays a sport I love and he inspires me to do better every time I play. But not all role models are good ones; for example some celebrities or people older than you might do things that aren’t right such as drugs, alcohol, steeling etc. young teens and or children might pick up the bad habits the person they look up to does. Kids and teens everywhere think just because their role models do these things (drugs, alcohol etc.) means that they should do the same.

Sometimes role models do the wrong thing and make their fans think that just because they do it, so should they its not cool to do drugs its not cool to drink alcohol just because it seems “cool”; it could be life treating and could cause this bad habit to spread from teen to teen, across the country. I thought we were trying to lower the rate of alcohol and drug abuse? Why let your teens watch or be around people that do these bad things? It’s not right. Terry Brown writes on Iparenting.com that Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Mary Kate Olsen. Watching former teen idols crash from drug use, alcohol abuse or eating disorders has almost become an American pastime. As parents, it is our job to minimize the negative influence these out-of-control idols may have on our own impressionable preteens or teens. This says that not all idols are good ones, these role models give teens and children the wrong influence that may become a habit in kids lives if no one stops this.


I think that celebrities who do drugs and alcohol knowing they have young fans that look up to them should not be aloud to be shown on cameras and videos it only gives kids around the world to think that its okay when its not.
Terry also wrote, Celebrity worship no doubt started when impressionable teens caught their first glimpse of Charlie Chapman and Irene Castile. This preoccupation with the rich and famous seems to have grown in proportion to our technology. In the early days, studios went out of their way to hide the missteps of their stars, not wanting a backlash of outraged parents, Now these same misdeeds are shown on television and the Internet – over and over and over until they become a part of our cultural reality. I think this was a very good idea that way teens weren’t influenced by anything that is inappropriate and that could have them make the bad choice.

Over all I strongly want teen role models to become more aware of what they are doing to young minds and people who look up to them, they need to think of someone other then their selves and think before they do something. Hopefully in the future people will be come more familiar with this dilemma and will be able to fix this problem before it hits all teens.


The author's comments:
I wanted to write this because i think that people need to be more aware about how good or bad influences can be on teens now a days.

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