Out-of-control Idol

Combating Your Teen's Negative Celebrity Role Models

By Teri Brown

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.

Maryann McLain from Omaha, Neb., has a daughter who wants to be like Britney Spears. That concerns McLain who has watched the tabloids marking Britney's less than desirable behavior. "I tell her that Britney is a normal person whose only good points are she can sing and dance and had pretty hair," McLain says. "Then I point out all the bad things she's doing – not wearing underwear in public and letting people see that she isn't. Being stupid and driving with her baby on her lap – I do tell my daughter the graphic details of what can happen to the baby. I told her about the drinking and drugs and related them back to the classes my daughter had in school. So, in a nutshell, I try to relate what she sees to what's real in her life and pop those infatuation bubbles as fast as I can."

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.

Vicky Courtney, nationally renowned teen issues speaker and author, believes the media is partially to blame for our youth's preoccupation with celebrities. "Teens can hardly go a day without being exposed to the latest news regarding Hollywood's poor role models," she says. "With 24-hour news coverage on many of the cable stations and competition to get the best stories, pictures and film footage, teens have been saturated with too much information regarding the lives of these anything-but-wholesome role models. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of celebs and pop stars who have adopted the mindset that there is no such thing as negative publicity. In fact, it almost seems that those who behave the worst get the most press. Before long, teens come to expect the continuous news coverage and ramped up bad behavior among these celebs and pop stars."

Want to see more?

• Model Behavior: Today's Teens and the Role Models They Choose
• Movie Madness: How the Silver Screen Affects Your Teen
• Too Much TV?: Setting Limits on Television Viewing
• Check out our Article Library.
• Talk about it!