Parents are kids' real role models

A survey conducted by the China Youth and Children Research Center among about 6,000 children in middle and primary schools of six provinces found that besides Lei Feng, their top 10 idols are showbiz and sports stars, this is natural and not something parents should worry about, says an article in Changjiang Daily, excerpts:

Idols adored by teenagers are representatives of the times.

With reform and opening-up, teenagers' idols have become more diversified, changing from scientists in the 1970s to Zhang Haidi in the 1980s, and then female volleyball players and singers from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Since then, it has become evermore easy for people who appear on TV and the Internet to gain stardom and nationwide popularity.

Parents and educators should try to be more broad-minded instead of regretting or even worrying about what is actually an imaginary crisis.

In reality, idols exert a certain, but not necessarily decisive, influence on children's development.

For instance, those who worship scientists such as Madame Curie in their childhood may not devote themselves to science when they become adults, whereas those who like sportsmen or women may later on devote themselves to invention and creation.

What parents should do is to set an example with their own actions rather than become too preoccupied with who their children's idols are. After all, it is the parents and people around them that influence children most deeply, so whether the children will become talents or just ordinary people actually has nothing to do with who their idols are.