According to Mr. Canada of the Choate Rosemary Hall, a role model should be someone who has a set of values so high that you will probably never reach. Today, celebrities are often linked with bad behavior – violence, drugs, indecent dressing and so many other unacceptable behaviors. This bad behavior is enough proof for parents to judge that celebrities are not good role models for the youth in which of course they have the responsibility to be.
Sometimes however, if a celebrity becomes involved in any kind of trouble, a responsible celebrity will find a way out of it and clear the air as to what has happened and still serve as a good role model for easily influenced people. For example, the mode of dressing of a celebrity, like Britney Spears “baby one more time” music video caused lots of young women to tie up the front of their shirts and lifted up their skirts so as to look like her in the video. There have been so many cases like this and has been going on for years.
Many of the most worshipped celebrities are poor role models for sensitive young people. “Young people need role models in their lives because they need people they can try to strive to be like” (Phillips 2012) and the legacy these celebrities are laying are not good ones. A celebrity should be a good role model for the sake of the society. Few of these celebrities have been involved in charities like, Tim Tebow; a football Denver Broncos quarterback helps orphanages in Philippines as well as schooling in Colorado (Denver business journal, 11 November 2011).
Tim Tebow is doing a good work being a responsible role model for the society and since he is always in the media, the young people who see what he is doing will appreciate him and one day they will want to be like him and be in that position of helping others, by this thought he has influenced them positively. Although, not every celebrity is a good role model despite they are the biggest icons in the public eye their responsibility to be good role models is highly needed” A real role model realizes that their platform as a celebrity comes with responsibilities to set a positive example” (Smith, 2010).
There are some celebrities involved in the community and the world around them, another celebrity doing good things for our society is Ellen DeGeneres supports animal and human rights by donating time and money to great causes. A good role model should have desirable and positive qualities. Being an important figure to the society and the lives of people is necessary for a celebrity, not only because people look up to them, also because it sets a higher standard of living. With these qualities the celebrity will earn more respect from the public and the people will have a greater view of them.
A typical example of another celebrity who has shown us that being a celebrity and a responsible role model is not a by is Tyra Banks, a top model who is a role model for young ladies aspiring to be models, she does not have criminal charges,sex scandals and other indecent behavior as most other models are known to have. Most people in the society who think being a model pushes one to be wayward, Tyra Banks proved them wrong and she is doing pretty well and has inspired lots of young women to be like her.
Furthermore, celebrities should not be involved in anything that has to do with the use and abuse of drugs, Lindsay Lohan got into the limelight at the age of three and started out really well as innocent little girl and since then has she been in the public eye, till she entered her teenage years and saw what older celebrities were doing and imitated them in a negative way, the way Lindsay was influenced is the same way other upcoming and teenagers out there will be influenced if celebrities do not act as responsible and respectable role models.
She’s been in and out of rehab several times. In addition, the few good celebrity role models should create awareness and support the government in the campaign to stop the use of drugs. Being a celebrity comes with the responsibility to be a good role model since they have placed themselves in that position, celebrities should try their best and become one. As some celebrities are always in the media, some of their lifestyle choices are not safe and socially acceptable and they influence the society either positively or negatively.
References:
Education Reform and Leadership 2012, The Choate Rosemary Hall, viewed 2 December 2012, http://thenews.choate.edu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1383%3Amr-geoffrey-canada-speaks-on-education-reform-and-leadership&Itemid=21
McCutcheon, L.E 2003,’Machiavellianism’ Belief in a just world and tendency to worship celebrities’, Current research in social psychology, no 8, viewed 2 December 2012. http://www.uiowa.edu/~grpproc/crisp/crisp.8.9.html
Phillips, K 2012 Celebrity Role Models-Modeling their gender role, weblog post,24 April, viewed 2 December 2012. http://blogs.longwood.edu/kimberlyphillips/
http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2011/11/15/tim-tebow-building-hospital-in.html
http://www.coker.edu/static/art/stdnt3_gd/370_fa08/danny/ellen_d.html
Celebrities: Who they are, How they gain popularity, and why society is so fascinated with them and their court cases, viewed 15 December 2012. http://commons.emich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1149
