Role-models and Ideals

Every human being is a unique personality having a lot in common with other people but also being different from other people. What we have in common is the fact thet we are born, live our individual life and when our life comes to an end, we die.

During our life we learn how to get on with other people, how to cope with problems, how to overome difficulties. It is not easy but most of us try hard. As individuals we have different personal qualities which sometimes cause problems, because we have both positive and negative qualities.

The places where we should be given exampes of how to behave, what to do or not to do in different life situations are in the family and school.

Family is extremelu important for shaping our personal qualities, here we learn about the world and make first contats with other people. If a child is loved and praised, he/she will love and praise, if he/she is critized, he/she will be very critical, if he/she is hit, he/she will hit.

Chool is nearly as important in our personal development as family. Whe we enter school, we become a pat of society because school is an institution. Here we should learn how to cooperate with other people, how to accept other people´s views, how to compromize with people.

If either family or school fails in presenting good examples of social behaviour, young people start looking for examples outside among famous personalities – sportsmen, film stars, pop singers, etc. They look for somebody to identify with, somebody tehy can admire and follow. The influence of these people, especiallu on the younger generation is enormous and has become a big business. Nowadays teenagers try to follow their idols in everything – in style of clothing, make-up, hairstyle, etc. They are pepared to teavel long distances and pay a lot of money just to have a chance to see their idol´s live show.

Why? Many singers have helped to promote a new vision of the world – a vision based on peace and love – the decade of hippies and anti_Vietnam War demostrations. There had been protest songs in the past, now rock culture actuallu began to play an active role in politics. During a famine in Ethiopia when governments were not doing enough, the music bussiness raised millions for charity. Now, the focus in on Green and social issues sucha s homelessness (Phil Collis – Another Day in Paradise) or AIDS (Dione Warwick – That´s What Friends are For).