Child Actors as Role Models

Child actors in shows for young audiences should expect to be seen as role models. The reasoning behind this is fairly simple: if you idolize someone, you want to be like that person in some way. Many children, especially younger ones, look up to the people in the shows they watch, and I'm sure most of you have seen some form of that imitation. Simple things like wearing the same kind of clothes aren't particularly bad influences, but other issues arise as well.

Parents generally expect to be the role models for their children, and may not consider that their kids may want to be like the people in their favourite shows, which can have unfortunate results. To quote Dr. C. George Boeree:

"Unfortunately, most children today look to the mass media, especially T.V., for role models. It is easy to understand why: The people on T.V. are prettier, richer, smarter, wittier, healthier, and happier than anybody in our own neighborhoods! Unfortunately, they aren't real. I'm always astounded at how many new college students are quickly disappointed to discover that their chosen field actually requires a lot of work and study. It doesn't on T.V. Later, many people are equally surprised that the jobs they worked so hard to get aren't as creative and glorious and fulfilling as they expected. Again, that isn't how it is on T.V. It shouldn't surprise us that so many young people look to the short-cuts that crime seems to offer, or the fantasy life that drugs promise."

It can be difficult for children, particularly young ones, to tell the difference between fiction and reality. They may assume that because the characters on television do less-than-desirable things and get away with it, they should be able to do the same things without repercussions. Shows for both children and teenagers, not to mention those targeted at adults, don't portray life in realistic ways; children learn appropriate reactions from these shows at least as much as they do from people around them, though of course this varies with the frequency and type of shows they watch. In addition, many younger children watch shows marketed toward teenagers and sometimes even adults, making it more likely that they will encounter bad role models without realizing it.

You can say all you like that people, particularly children, shouldn't be taking their cues from people in the television and movie industries or the characters they play. You'd be right, too; no one should assume that X person is a good role model just because he/she/it is famous. But they do anyway. And child actors, at least, knowing that kids watch their shows frequently, should realize this and shape up.

Sources:
The biggest 2009 show-biz lesson: Celebrities are NOT role models!
Essay on Erik Erikson, briefly dealing with role models
Children and role models

Against Social Networking (A Rebuttal)

Social networking is harmful to people’s health, real-life social relationships, and also constitutes a threat to their privacy. Most teens don’t know that when they post photos and information onto websites like Facebook and Myspace, it can still be retrieved even after deletion. Social networking also makes cyberbullying easier and Sameer Hinduja states that a 2009 study found that 17.3% of middle school students have been victims of cyberbullying, which causes depression and low self-esteem as www.ncpc.org adds on. Adults can get hacked and have their identity stolen, get their homes broken into, and potentially lose their job. And according to David Derbyshire from Daily Mail, too much time on these websites can also cause brain damage to children.

"Social networking allows for people to be more social and lets people see each other from far away. Studies have shown that people who use social networking sites have a better quality of life. It has reduced risk of health problems, helped with stroke recovery, and overall well being."

- Our Opponents

Social networking actually causes people’s face-to-face socialization to decrease in frequency. An article by Aric Sigman, entitled “Well Connected? The Biological Implications of ‘Social Networking’”, states that as the amount of people who use social networking sites goes up, people interact less and less with other people in real life. Families spend less time together, even when under the same roof, because they are using the internet and thus ignoring each other. People who use social networking sites often experience social isolation as far as actually talking to people goes.

In addition, information gathered by neuroscientist Susan Greenfield shows that excessive use of social networking can cause children to suffer from personality disorders such as an inability to have real conversations, ADHD, short attention spans, the need for instant gratification, and self-centered personalities. Greenfield has told the Daily Mail that ‘'My fear is that these technologies are infantilising the brain into the state of small children who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lights, who have a small attention span and who live for the moment.'’ She also states the concern that the use of social networking may be responsible for the current increase in autism.*

"Most social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace have an age limit and if under a certain age, like 16 people cannot find them in the general search. People can also make all their information like name, age, and where they live private, so a random person cannot see their information unless they add them as a friend."

Age limitations on signing up for social networking sites do nothing to prevent teenagers from being exposed to this, as many lie about their ages. And social networking sites are certainly not free from predators. In 2009, MySpace confirmed that it had identified and removed over 90,000 registered sex offenders from its site, according to an article by Nathan Olivarez-Giles in the Los Angeles Times. This same article states that Facebook declined to give a number of discovered sex offenders. And even if these sites make an effort to remove sex offenders, they cannot possibly find all of them, because it is impossible to be sure that everyone is who they say they are.

Even without the other considerations, there is still the issue of Facebook’s recent distribution of private information. The company actually announced this March that, if you are logged into Facebook, certain unnamed “pre-approved” sites will by default have access to your personal Facebook data (a link to this can be found in Marshall Kirkpatrick’s article on the ReadWriteWeb site). According to Brett Michael Dykes, in some cases the site has been giving people’s information not only to companies who want it, but also to advertisers who haven’t even asked for the information, such as Google's DoubleClick and Yahoo!'s Right Media--and MySpace is doing something similar.

In short, social networking should not be trusted.

Sources:
More sex offenders joined MySpace than previously acknowledged
Well Connected? The Biological Implications of 'Social Networking'
FaceBook May Share User Data With External Sities Automatically
Facebook, MySpace caught releasing user data
Social websites harm children's brains: Chilling warning to parents from top neuroscientist

*Disclaimer: Internet usage is only a possible cause for the recent increase in autism. It is also possible that doctors are simply getting better at diagnosing it, and a number of other factors may be at fault. I am in no way suggesting that the Internet alone causes autism.

Opening Statement

Ebone and I are debating against social networking, and she posted our statement before I did. So my statement is this: What she said.