Not the right role models!

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Remember The Amanda Show, Full House, Mean Girls and all those teen dramas from the 90’s? Of course you’re sure to remember Amanda Bynes, Mary-Kate Olsen, Jodie Sweetin and Lindsay Lohan from these shows. Amanda, after drug addiction, is now under psychiatric care in UCLA Medical Center, being treated for schizophrenia. Mary-Kate Olsen, 27, is dating 43-year-old Olivier Sarkozy. Stephanie Tanner from Full House is a recovering drug addict. Miley Cyrus is indulging in vulgar things on stage while she has several kids watching, just to ‘make history.’ If you’re a parent, you’re bound to worry about your children being influenced by the lifestyle of these celebs.
Hansika Motwani, who starred as a child in Koi… Mil Gaya and Aabra Ka Daaba, says a child artiste’s upbringing is what matters to ensure the child doesn’t go haywire. “Child artistes get exposed to life earlier than other children. Things could go wrong if they don’t have people to guide them. My mom was always there to support me and I was always treated like other children,” she says.
Echoing Hansika’s thoughts is Aftab Shivdasani, whose first role was as a child actor in Mr India. “My parents always gave me a reality check and I was always surrounded by good people. Besides, I think education is the basis of one’s understanding. There is no substitute for education,” he insists.
Anirudh Ravichander, the 90’s kid, who grew famous over night with his composition Why this Kolaveri Di says everything he does is under the radar of fans. “The majority of my audience is from the age of 10-15 years. And that is a very influential age. While catering to an audience like that, responsibility comes automatically. Plus I have the parents of all these kids monitoring my every movement. You don’t want to get on their wrong side,” he laughs.
But are youngsters really that influenced by celebrities? Psychologist Sadhana Kiran thinks not. She believes youngsters these days are very smart for their age. “Fans who get carried away by celebs’ lifestyles are very minimal. It is only children who have unresolved issues and have no go-to person who consider this as a shortcut route,” she says. But she also believes that the least we can do is empathise and support celebs overcome their problems instead of critize them.
Surprisingly, in light of Miley Cyrus’s twerking on stage, rapper Brodha V, thinks it was an intelligent move. “She probably did it as a publicity gimmick. For all you know, she’ll start getting movie roles because of that now. But I do pity the kids who had to watch that,” he admits. He believes children do get influenced by such celebs. “Why else would WWE players repeat ‘Do not try this at home or at school’ so many times?” he concludes.