Embracing Teen Idols Justin Bieber, Miranda Cosgrove, Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga

My daughter like her second grade counterparts have the Bieber fever, sing Miley Cyrus songs, love Miranda Cosgrove and every other  manufactured Nickelodeon and Disney teen idol. And my response to Justin Bieber, Miranda Cosgrove, Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez and all the other tween/teenage, pop cultural wunderkinds that are invading my life, I raise the white flag and surrender my sanity now.

 

If it’s the only parenting tip, I have learned and is the only thing that will get me through the next ten years until I ship my daughter off to college is “choose your battles wisely.”  And “hating” all these teen idols is not worth my mental energy nor time to discuss why I hate these people. It’s not worth it. Yes, I could ban television but I can’t stop my daughter from seeing other kid’s backpacks that display everyone from Miley to Selena to Justin or having her go to karoake birthday parties where the girls sing Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga songs.

Because therein lies the dilemma, you want to shield them from the obvious marketing onslaught of these manufactured teens but at the same time, you want them to fit in with their peers. Who wants their kid to be odd kid out? Not me, not in this day and age of bullying.

The problem is that I am an adult who knows all the behind the scenes gossip of all these kids which in turn makes me want my kid not to like them because I know they are bad role models which in turn makes me go batty if I succumb to the pressure of buying a licensed product that makes these kids rich beyond their years. And yes. I do say no to buying 99% of the products but soon she will have her own money from allowance and she can buy any t-shirt she wants.

This is why I have decided to change my tune of negativity. So instead of saying “I hate Miley Cyrus”, yes I have said it, even to my daughter’s  little friends who come up to me and ask “Do you hate Miley Cyrus?” “Yes , I do” saying in proudly.

My strategy is twofold.

1. Point out the flaws in the Hannah Montana show making it more of a teachable moment, supressing my instinct to yell, “Don’t like her, she is a skanky whore who lap dances with a 40 year old man, poses nude, dances in scantily clad clothes around a stripper pole,  has made racist gestures and who is probably going to end up at Betty Ford before she is thirty.”

• • For instance, I am fascinated that the Hannah Montana character is so incredibly disrespectful to her friends, family, her father and how everything revolves around her. Yes, she realizes her wrongs by the end of the show but it’s literally at the end. Do I think a 7 or 8 year old can grasp that moral message in that one minute? I think not.

2. Talk about what “Juvy”  is from the reference on iCarly and how much as I think Sam is hysterically funny and sarcastic, she is pretty much a juvenile delinquent, makes fun of people and never studies. I really discuss why she doesn’t want to end up like Sam. .

My daughter is  a couple years away from hitting those tween years so I am embracing (through clenched teeth) that she is going to be exposed to more pop idols and singers.  I will continue to grasp these teachable moments to discuss how talented Justin or Miranda is but put their life in context that they are just actors or singer and they are not perfect.

My daughter gives me hope that she might get it.

While watching a promo announcing K$sha’s special guest appearance on “Victorious”, my daughter says “Drunk people make me scared.”  I asked my daughter about why she would say this. ” I saw her video and she was falling down.” She obviously had figured out that Miss K$sha was falling down drunk.

How do you handle the situation when you loathe your child’s teen idol?