Well, Celebrity role models, where do i begin? Does my child need one? Well i suppose that is a debatable topic, the fact is celebrities are there, in our faces, whether we want them to be our children's role models or not, they are.
What our kids wear, the latest trends in "slang" speech, What sort of moves they will pull on the dance floor, what they will aspire to become one day, their interests, their make - up, hair you name it, who do they look to for the latest trend? Definitely not always to us.
So Now that we have established that they are there, won't go away soon what can we as parents do about it?
You as a parent have to decide what is wholesome to you... and softly point your child in the right direction, you might as well become unpopular with your child from a young age, it's gonna happen when they hit 12 anyways...at least you know what you do know is going to play a big part on what type of adult they will be one day, because it does not matter how out of control they become as teenagers, they will always return to their values, they will always marry a woman that's like their mom or a man that is like their dads. FACT number 1.
My son is 8 years old, and by my influence he finds nothing inspiring about Lady Gaga. Good!! i Like that because I call her Tannie GA-GA because i do not find her to be wholesome at all, not for me or for my child anyways.
I use to Hate Afrikaans music, did not buy Cd's, DVDs etc of Afrikaans music in general....and i am Afrikaans lol! But when your child is born somehow your diet becomes fish fingers, mash and peas and you and your music taste fall out of the bus somewhere and i have been forced to listen to it, because he is an Afrikaans music Maniac!!
So i try to read as much as i can and Yolanda Barnard wrote a book Ponies Galop, Interesting behind the scenes look at celebrities and their "secrets" but nevertheless still a gossip book, but very factual,
Now I have always bought Steve Hofmeyr Cd's For my son, Laaities and Ladies etc But me being a Christian i realised with a big shock, shock horror ,horror that Mr Hofmeyer has a total disrespect for people in general, hate the media that he ever so politely used to get famous in the first place, Cheated on his wife soo many times and then blames the media for it, has a fowl mouth, attacks peoples character and mostly Thinks people who believe in God is Pathetic...well now, suppose i will be spending my money somewhere else from now on then..Personal opinion off course
Zander Tyler better known as Jack Parow, is part of the new ZEF phenomena in South Africa, and the fouler your mouth the Zeffer you are, Do yourself a favour and listen to the words of his songs, now he is not like that in his personal life, but in his celebrity persona he is ZEF at it's best along with Die Antwoord, Van Coke Kartel etc....
Now Don't get me wrong i have nothing against them, but an 8 year old can def. not think beyond what is reality and what not, so in their minds Jack Parow is Jack Parow, they do not see Mr. Zander Pelser with a fiance and a baby girl...and THAT is where we as parents come in..
We need to decide for ourselves what we want our kids to know and what not, when they are 16 they will decide for themselves anyways, but we have to in the mean time make those decisions of what TV programs and musicians they support and what is good for..
I look At Joe Niemand, Riana Nell , Nianell, Retief Burger, these are COOL people, with awesome tracks for kids to listen to, and google them to try and find anything Bad.....you won't find it, they are Awesome singers and even if you are not a Christian, they are still good role models, because they promote what is Good in this world, they promote humbleness, love, joy , peace, humanity, decency and these are good for any kids of any religion...
A well known radio station did an interview with Joe niemand the other day, and said that he pulled off a show with over 900 people on the set and that the quality of this production was one of the biggest in South Africa, and wanted to know how he felt about it, his instant , natural reaction to it was that it is not about himself , but About GOD, is that not awesome?
Elvis Blue is the humblest person i have seen in a while, his love for music, people, and God is amazing, Riana Nell told a story about how she found herself in London on a train and how she went through a dark time in her life , hopeless, depressed, sad, and there was a man on the train, she went on her knees, crying hopelessly...now we all know to be that desperate, you have to really be more than deep down a whole of sadness...but she looked up to the man and said " Sir do you know Jesus, because i need someone to pray for me right now, the man did not know Jesus and she told him Sir Do you not Know Jesus, He is the only one that can save us, he is our saviour , our king, He died for us, and the man was in awe as she went on talking about God, WHOLESOME...Retief burger has Lived his entire life almost as an Evangelist for God, and at his shows he said take your eyes of off me and close them praise Our God....Nianell has the voice and personality of an Angel...
Now i am no professional but are these not the type of role models our kids need?
People who does not want to be put up on a pedestal and admired, they just want to get the world dancing for Jesus!!
We have to realise that the world is changing, people are changing the way people think, eat, drink, live it has all changed, the type of programs on TV changed, the ads in family slot has changed, The worst Horror movie in my time was Gremlins and i was not allowed to watch it, what is acceptable to day was banned 20 years ago, and my opinion is that the times changed because we are just surviving, we are not living anymore..we rush in the morning to work, we rush back home, we rush when we make food, it is as if we have become robotic slaves that just move forward when we are really only moving backwards..
We have so much influence on our young kids and what they like and how they treat others and we need to guide them to artist like Elvis, Joe and the rest, even if we don't like the music or whatever, you won't give your kids ice cream and chocolates for breakfast, yet we give them Ben 10 and lady Gaga as possible role models...
My son is not perfect, what 8 year old is?? but when he comes home after being bullied at school, and i got upset, and asked him why did you not hit back, he knocked me out with his answer...he told me that He is better than that, he is a child of God, and children of God respects each other and if you have respect you won't hurt others....WOW !!!! values that we teach our kids, we don't realise what a big influence our teachings have on our kids until; something happens that just knocks you out!
We Have fallen into this pit of darkness, we are raising a nation of children who start writing exams in st2, suffer from information overload at school, because someone need to pay taxes one day and keep our government alive....we have robbed our kids of what is rightfully theirs, we have robbed our kids of becoming the type of people our grandparents and parents are, we are robbing them of the magic of childhood without even realising it, we need to start living, forget about Cleaning the house for one day, who cares what your house looks like for one day?? don't do the beds, don't clean the rooms, forget about the dishes, eat hot dogs for supper,just for one day put yourself and your family first in your routine and see how awesome your day is...we need to to put back the magic in our children's eyes, we need to make 9 year old's believe in father Christmas, the Easter bunny, the tooth fairy, we need to buy our 11 year old girls dolls again, we just need to choose what this world needs and kill what it doesn't if a bad celebrity does not get support they won't survive in their industry, but we are the people supporting them by buying the Cd's, we make the choices to book concert tickets for celebrities that we don't like but your children does...we cannot sit back and say it is Jack Parrow, Or Steve Hofmeyer Or the Antwoord's fault that our nation is talking,dressing,acting and living through these celebrities... the FACT is they are not raising our kids WE are, they are simply taking the gap in society that we have created and supported up to now....Just a thought..just an opinion..but i hope that it makes a point of how important our decision of role models for our kids are...AND YES WE DO HAVE THE ABILITY TO MAKE OUR KIDS BELIEVE IN EITHER A BAD CELEBRITY OR A WHOLESOME CELEBRITY...IF WE COULD JUST TAKE BACK THE STEERING WHEEL AND START LIVING LIFE AND NOT JUST SURVIVING IT!!
