Don't let your girls ... grow up to be Britney Spears or any other pop teen idol

As beneficial as a black president would be for young black youths to look up to, so, too, would a female vice president.

Why? Look around.

America's young girls are still obsessed with celebrity -- and now, Britney Spears is back in the picture after another performance at MTV's Video Music Awards. This time, it was not quite so embarrassing.

And she is not the only questionable idol for young girls. Add Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and a bevy of models and singers to that list, too.

We would all be a lot better off if we could get the nation's young women to think more about role models like Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice or anyone else who has managed to create a career, become a good mother or left a mark on the future. There are thousands of women who fit that bill -- and very few of them have VMA honors.

We have enough super models and teen singing sensations. We could use a few more chief executive officers -- or chief executives for that matter.

Gov. Sarah Palin could be the standard bearer for the start of a new push for the nation's young women. Forget about style, fashion and celebrity and concentrate instead on substance and loving yourself for who you are -- not what Hollywood and fashion magazines tell you you should be.

It might not seem like a crisis yet, but it is an important change in tone that could could create futures for millions of young women across this country.

And it could just leave them with a sense of self that gives them the push they need to shine.

Published in Editorials on September 8, 2008 10:55 AM