The spending power of teenagers in recent years has been on the rise, and mass media is integrating into their lives at an accelerating rate. This has resulted in the use, or as some claim, abuse of celebrity figures by film, fashion and other related industries to exploit their young, impressionable and very lucrative market.

As the media creeps deeper and deeper into their lives, exaggerated and often unrealistic depiction of sex, drugs, physical beauty and other aspects of the glitz and glamour of Hollywood life are repeatedly splashed on television screens, billboards, advertisements, newspapers and pretty much anything and everything teenagers have access to. Used to spread these messages are our larger-than-life celebrities, who do so to earn their honest livings.

Teenagers are at a phase of their life where they undergo massive changes physically, mentally, and emotionally. Unprepared for and new to all these changes, they become breeding grounds for dissatisfaction, insecurity and low self-esteem. These ills are potentially brought about and heightened by the viewing of “perfect” celebrities.

A young teenage boy may feel pressurized into having an intimate relationship with a girl because of what he sees in the media. If he succeeds, he may find himself disappointed with reality. If he fails, he develops doubts about his masculinity.

Girls have it worse- frequent portrayal of tall, underweight women with perfect bodies as the norm has driven thousands of perfectly healthy, beautiful teenage girls to depression, eating disorders and self-mutilation which ruin their formerly happy, care-free lives.

The idolization of such celebrities has destroyed and will continue to destroy teenagers’ perception of reality. This seemingly harmless situation is what grooms murderers, rapists and other criminals with twisted psyches, demolishing lives and families. Teenagers can always be found at celebrity-graced events, even those at unearthly hours or worse, during school hours. In their idol-worshipping frenzy, they lose touch of their priorities and often ruin their studies and their future in the process. Some teenagers spend so much money on celebrity endorsed goods that they are forced to spend all their time working for it. The more obsessed event demand or steal money from their parents or others.

Studying the effects of celebrity influence on teenagers, it would seem that celebrities are single-handedly destroying the youth of today, and that they should be eradicated from our lives and media for the greater good of our youth and the future of mankind.

However, this is a very myopic view and impossible, unrealistic wish. Even if it were fulfilled, it would destroy a multi-billion dollar industry and send the world into economic crisis! If celebrities did not exist, teenagers can and will always find other means, such as violent video games, pornography, the internet, and their peers to destroy themselves. Celebrities and the industries which market them for their own furtherment cannot be blamed.

Instead, teenagers should be educated to differentiate right from wrong, fiction from reality. Parents, teachers, peers and society in general should take the time and effort to teach teenagers to how to respect and be happy with themselves. Instead of trying to hide our youth from everything that may harm them, we should arm them with the necessary information and upbringing to fend for themselves. If this is achieved, teenagers will be able to discern entertainment from good values and be able to develop as stronger, fuller individuals regardless of how many negative influences they are exposed to.

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