Since the dawning of time there has always been people that stood out amongst others and acted as trend setters or influences on other people. For a long time in history the people that held these positions were usually royalty but since the advent of the silver screen, in America movie stars and other celebrities have been the ones to set trends. Many messages of society are passed through the mediums of television and movies and people need to be aware of the fact that the images that they see on screen are often not a portrayal of how life really is. This is especially true of teens and young children because they often do not have the real life experience to compare what they see on television with. This is really becoming a problem, especially with all the overnight celebrities that are popping up on YouTube and even on Facebook. If parents are not especially diligent about what their child watches on the Internet they could be getting exposed to all kinds of things that would not be approved of if known about.
Celebrities Acting Out
Over the past few years more and more attention is going to celebrities and the outrageous things that they are getting themselves involved in. The media gives lots press coverage on this or that celebrity going to rehab to conquer their drug or alcohol addiction and also all the things that these celebrities are doing while they are under the influence. This is clearly sending a message to our youth that could be considered less than moral. Most people and especially children, look at celebrities as people to be admired and respected. When people have that much attention from the media which most people watch and stay tuned into, it would be better if they would try to live up to the fact that everything that they do is going to mimicked and copied by some person or another. There is a lot of power that celebrities have even over our culture and one would think that it would be better for society if these roles were taken a little more seriously. It is really not surprising to see that many teens are addicted to drugs when you see what kind of influences they are getting from people that are constantly in the headlines.
It is very important for kids these days to be in activities that expose them to people who will be good influences on them instead of only being exposed to the influences that are coming from the media. It is often intriguing to see the hardships that celebrities go through in their life, mostly because it brings them back down to a human level. The contradiction lies in the fact that even though people can look at a celebrity momentarily and say “Oh that person did not really do the right thing and how could they do that?” the next week those very same people will have forgotten their disappointment in that person and go back to the role of adoring fan. One could suppose that it is not really fair to the celebrity that all that pressure is put upon them to live their lives decently, but really, wouldn’t one think that if they did not want to be in that position they should just try to take themselves out of the limelight? There are many celebrities out there that do try to be good influences on the masses but the ones who don’t care seem to stick out more and get more attention usually.
Social Internet Influences
There is a lot of information and entertainment that is put out on the web. The Internet can be looked at as wonderful thing where information is available to the masses. The Internet is also a good place for people to socialize and connect with each other. Once of the main places that people do that these days is on Facebook. Alcohol glamorizing pictures on Facebook have been a source of concern for some parents recently because there are so many people that document most of the events of their lives on Facebook. Although there is a supposed age limit for when one can join Facebook, it is pretty much impossible for the Facebook management team to make sure that everyone that joins Facebook meets that requirement. It is really the responsibility of parents to ensure their child’s safety in regards to social sites like My Space, Facebook, and Twitter. Mary Rieser, Director of the Narconon Rehab Center in Georgia, who also trained at Narconon Arrowhead had this to say about the matter “ If a child has an account on one of these social sites, it is the responsibility of the parents to make sure that they know who their child is contacting. It would also probably be a good idea to make sure the child’s security settings are set at the highest that they possibly can to make sure that predators are not able to friend a child on one of these sights. I recommend having the password to your child’s email and to any other account that your child has on the internet. Use them. Make sure from time to time you see who your child is friends with and see what kind of conversations your child is having. This can actually be a really good way to keep tabs on your child without having to seem completely in their face all the time. Just make sure that you let your child know that if they are going to have any account on the Internet that you are going to insist that they set it up in front of you and you have access to their account at all times. This way you can check on them from time to time and you don’t have to make it obvious that you are doing so. It is always a good idea to stay watchful and aware of what your child or teen is involved in.” If your child has friends that are obviously advocates of drug or alcohol use, it should be easy to see that with what kind of comments they post on their pages. This can actually be a very helpful tool for parents to use.
