In today’s culture we can easily influence each other in our society because of the advance in knowledge and media. Celebrities and Parents play significant parts in influencing people. Discussing the similarities and differences of the influence from celebrities and influence of parents, it’s clear that they share similarities in choices of lifestyle, effectiveness through imitation, and qualities of influence. They contrast each other in that they differ in physical distance, free will, and all aspects of life in which they contribute to.
Parental Influence
Growing up as a child, we are always told by our parents to understand right from wrong. Parents play a large role in children’s live emotionally and socially. The more a parent interacts with a child could have a greater impact on how the child succeeds in life. Take for example, a girl that has grown up seeing her mom abused will tend to bring that type of behavior into her own relationships as well. Either she will let the abuse happen or she will become the abuser. In her mind it will become the norm for her life. Until she gets the help she deserves, she will maintain this for the rest of her life. When it comes to emotions, children are capable of having the similar emotions just like their parents. Whether it is happy or sad, the child will react the same way. If a parent is stressed out or worried the child can sense the stress and become anxious. It’s hard to do, but parents should keep their adult stress to themselves so that the child can have a stress free, healthier life. According to Halloran, Ross, and Carey (2002) children often imitate their parents’ actions, especially in riskier behaviors, such as smoking and drinking. Such behaviors are dangerous and because the child is observing them, the child will think it’s ok. “Additionally, maternal mood swings or anxiety disorders may be associated with child social withdrawal or inhibition”. (Gerald, Laucht, Texdorf, Schmidt and Esser, 2002, p. 278). Therefore parents’ emotional problems can lead to a Childs emotional behavior.
Parents must show positive emotions toward their children so that they can have better self-esteem. If a parent constantly speaks negative to a child, that child will begin to believe and act on all that negative emotion, therefore parents can cause the child a great deal of depression, anxiety and low self-esteem. At a Childs age, a parent can start to see if their child will be a leader or a follower. If the parent teaches the child to be expressive, than the child becomes more independent. Therefore, they will learn to make better choices. A child that learns respect at an early age will get along a lot better in life. If the child is disrespectful and bad mannered, most likely they will be the ones that will end up on drugs/drugs and even end up in and out of jail. I could remember from past experience, a mother that had been on drugs and not being in her child life caused great emotional problems for that child. Once the mother had cleaned up her lifestyle, the child still went out and experienced drugs, drinking and was very sexually active. This child no longer had respect for her mother and did what she wanted. Causing the mother a great deal of grief.
Celebrity Influence
Celebrity impact can have just as much impact as a parent. Young children come to enjoy that special celebrity either from a book, TV. Show, movie or music. Whatever they choose, it’s a guarantee that they will play a significant role in a Childs life. The affect a celebrity can have from a negative perspective can be from how skinny they should look, to dyeing from an overdose of a drug and the media glamorizing it. The glamorization of these situations can almost make it ok in a child/ teenagers mind. Most celebrities are aware of the impact good or bad. Take for instance Hannah Montana, she started off as a young actress playing a respectful role and was geared more toward young girls. Now she has gone another direction geared toward young adults in the most provocative ways possible. Fans all over the world young and old follow celebrities. When it comes to teenagers they are the most vulnerable and most impacted by it. Many of the T.V. shows today glamorize teen pregnancy, dysfunctional relationships, and sexually active behavior. The modeling industry has convinced young girls that its ok to dress provocative, fat is out and skinny is in. On the negative side, young teens can fall into the trap a celebrity has displayed and be consumed
by their lifestyle. If the celebrity is caught drinking and goes to jail, the teen might consider this behavior to be acceptable. The music now a days is very sexual and kids think its ok to listen and participate in these sexual dances that go along with this music. This type of negative outlook being portrayed by celebrities can make it difficult for a parent to raise a child in this society. At times parents may feel the need to get rid of TV’s, and all electronic devices. But that could cause the child even more anger issues. On the positive side, when a celebrity participates in helping within the community, the child will act and do the same. Bottom line is if celebrities would start showing a lot more positive awareness than there would be a lot more teens actively participating within their communities all over the world. Both celebrities and parents are a critical influence in the choices we make for the lives we lead. Because we start off living with our parents from birth to our first part of our adult hood, in some cases forever, the habits we pick up mainly come from the influence of our parents. The ways are parents influence us, so can celebrities influence choices toward our lifestyles. Since celebrities are in the public eye, we can get to know their personal lives, good or bad. In the end, because parents can have the greatest impact on a child, it is their responsibility to teach them morals and values, listen when they are speaking (open communication). Give them the time they deserve to nurture and care for them in ways that no one else can. This can help them to become outstanding citizens in this world that has so many challenges each day. References
Halloran, E.C., Ross, G.J.,& Carey, M.P. (2002, Spring). The relationship of adolescent personality and family environment to psychiatric diagnosis. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 32 (3), 201-216 Gerhold, M., Laucht, M., Texdorf, C., & Schmidt, M.H. (2002, Summer). Early mother-infant interactions as a precursor to childhood social withdrawal. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 32 (4), 277-293.
