With the preposterous news that broke today regarding Jamie Lynn Spears’ pregnancy, I got to thinking back on 2007′s long list of fabulous female role models: Paris Hilton with her dramatic drunk arrest, big sis Britney Spears plastered on every magazine cover for shaving her head/crashing her car/losing custody/gaining custody/losing custody of her kids, and Lindsay Lohan in her own heap of drug and booze trouble. It’s disappointing to know that these celebrities are the individuals that many teen girls look up to. This is not to say that I think looking up to any celebrity is commendable. On the contrary, I’m not sure why they have to be a focus at all. Sure, I’ll often peruse through a People or US Weekly Magazine, or turn up the volume on the radio to catch the latest “Celebrity Scoop”, but my post here is really coming from a teacher perspective.
As a teacher in a day school, I hear kids talking about the typical kid stuff– Nickelodeon and Disney TV shows, High School Musical, and Webkins, but I also hear them properly answer Parsha questions at lunch time, daven and bench with the proper concentration, and get uber-excited about all of the Chanukah preparations and celebrations. While some might argue that day school children shouldn’t even be involved with the former, I say that they are still Jewish children living in an American culture, and I don’t see anything wrong with that. I do, however, get upset when some of the disgusting behaviors of the aforementioned celebrities, inappropriate songs on the radio, and the “trash talk” seep into our classrooms. I know as well as the next person that it is a fine line to walk between allowing your child to be involved in American culture and putting them in a box. Therefore it is up to the parents, teachers, and Jewish role models (whomever they may be) to keep these things in check and aide in rearing our children to help them grow up to be decent human beings and Bnai Torah.
[cartoon courtesy of Floridatoday.com]
