Will Your Daughter Be Okay? Five Easy Ways to Tell…

Parents of preteens and teenage girls worry about their daughters. These five signs can tell you if your child is on the right path.

Parents of daughters have always been concerned about who and what their daughters see as they grow up. These parents wonder if their children will manage to survive the preteen and adolescent years without getting caught up with the wrong crowd, hurting her reputation with any wild or crazy antics, and most importantly by simply staying true to herself and her upbringing.

Fortunately, there are easy ways to tell if your child is on the right track.

1. Her Friends
One of the most obvious ways to check up on your daughter is to see what sort of friends she has. If her friends show a rather disturbing lack of control or a vocabulary fraught with terms you had hoped your child would never hear, there may be a problem.

Hanging around with lots of different people is just as typical as a tight group of girlfriends, but see who exactly your daughter spends most of her time with and then very discreetly check up on them and their parents. Peer pressure is rampart at this age, so it’s crucial that you be playing with all the knowledge you can.

2. Her Shows
Some shows will be popular with teens and preteens regardless of content. However, you as the parent should be monitoring what exactly she is watching and what message she is getting out of it. Is your ten year old more tuned into Desperate Housewives than Miley Cyrus? If so, perhaps you need to invest in blocking software or at the very least watch some episodes together to see exactly what messages your offspring may be receiving.

3. Her Heroes
We all look up to someone, even if we do it unconsciously. Who is your daughter most interested in? Does she try to dress like her friends? Is she interested in carrying the latest bag Paris was spotted with? Does she seem to want to follow in her mother’s footsteps? The person leading your child may not be the best role model.

Quality role models like Miley Cyrus are harder to find, but they are out there. Discourage interest in young stars that seem to have a hard time holding it together or who encourage wild partying and other activities you’d be uncomfortable with your own daughter participating in. Discreetly help her find someone to copy who is more palatable.

4. Her Grades
The age old stereotype of girls not being as bright in school is still alive and well. Dumb and ditzy seems to get boys on television and movies, so your daughter may be buying into that myth. If her grades are slipping it might be something as simple as needing a tutor in math (which you should provide, but you might avoid letting her pick her own if he is under the age of fifty) or it could be a symptom of something much more serious. It is worth investigating, regardless.

5. Her Clothing
It may seem trivial, but if your daughter is dressing more like a club regular than a preteen school girl, you need to step in. Fashion is very important to young ladies, but certain fashions are simply not appropriate for school or girls under the age of eighteen. The wrong clothing can send and reinforce the wrong message. When shopping look for fashionable yet age appropriate outfits like the clothing worn by the Olsen twins or Miley Cyrus.

Above all, just remember, that all of the signs above may be pointing one way, when your daughter is heading another. Very little is permanent or long lasting at her age, so do all you can to help guide her in the right direction, then sit back and enjoy the ride.

Young Stars of Hollywood

Dakota Fanning and other child stars survive the high stakes
game of stardom at a young age with hard work and dedication.

Hollywood is full of talented actors, and some of those are so little, it amazes you they are even able to learn lines. While many child stars get by on their looks or cute personalities, some have the kind of talent that will propel them to future stardom. Dakota Fanning is one in a long line of successful child stars that not only has an adorable look, but is extremely talented as well.

Dakota Fanning follows closely in the footsteps of other child stars who made the leap from a child to a successful teen actor. One can only imagine she will make the transition to adult actor as well. Kirsten Dunst and Jodi Foster both won a great deal of attention for roles as children, and then managed to avoid the trips that catch other child stars. Dakota is simply the latest in this series of young talent.

Disappearing Child Stars
Many child actors appear in a few notable roles only to disappear over time. Some of these young actors are simply not interested in pursing a continuing career in Hollywood or need a break from the spotlight. They choose to pursue other dreams or educational opportunities. Some, like Drew Barrymore, eventually make it back to the big screen, and others simply fade.

Other child stars fight tooth and nail to stay in the public eye. They have enjoyed their time in the spotlight, and can’t fathom that it might be ending. Child stars have a unique disadvantage. They are initially sought for their youth, and as the leave their youth behind, they are no long sought after for important roles. Some may argue that this is the case for female actors as well, but youth in children is far shorter than a youthful appearance for a woman in Hollywood. It is painfully fleeting.

Child Star Survivors
Those that enjoyed success on the big (or little) screen as children and then continue to enjoy success as they age are the lucky few. Some do not age gracefully and fall from public favor. Others find a sort of protection in the industry and manage to stay above the temptations that affect others.

Out of the initial batch of child stars in every generation, most fade away by choice or by circumstances. The few remainders have survived on pure talent and hard work. Dakota Fanning is one of those survivors, and could possibly even be the most talented young starlet in Hollywood history.

Child Star Fans
Fans of child stars are able to find a great deal of information about these actors online and in magazines. Website owners and editors know how meaningful these young careers can be and offer updated information on a regular basis. Even game sites, such as TheDollPalace.com, offers their own version of child stars – in the form of dress up games and dollz.
There will always be child stars. And there will always be those very few that make the transition. We, the audience, will always be enamored with these young talents and do what we can to follow their careers and show our interest in their exciting lives.

When Good Girls...Stay Good?

Unfortunately, Hollywood seems to taint many of the young starlets that make it home. Adorable young stars slowly begin a descent that comes with too much money, too much attention and not enough supervision. A very notable few escape the fate of so many. For every wholesome Mandy Moore or Miley Cyrus, there are those like Lindsay Lohan, Brittany Spears and Nichole Richie waiting in the wings.

Parents of young actresses felt comfortable with these young stars as role models only to have them become habitual drug users, fighters, plagued with body issues, and overall simply unsuitable for the preteen and teenage audience that seems to love them. What happens to these girls and how do some escape the fate?

Power Corrupts
Power, and all that comes with it, are dangerous. A young girl who enjoys making movies or television shows suddenly is able to call the shots and walk away with millions of dollars. As she approaches her later teenage years, she realizes that she has plenty of money and more than enough freedom to do what she wants.

If power is corrupting, fame is a nuclear weapon. It seems the more famous a young starlet becomes, the more secure she feels in her choices. If she wants to party, she will. If she wants to drive down the wrong side of the road she will. Wearing underpants is now optional, and if she feels like getting married or shaving her head, who’s going to stop her?

Law enforcement has long been known to let celebrities off easily, especially ones that are beloved by audiences. Nobody wants to be responsible for putting a teen idol behind bars – better to let them do some community service in hopes that they will change their ways.

A Breeding Ground
For those in Hollywood, keeping your name in the papers is akin to continued work and continued fame. For many young starlets, it reaches a point where bad news is almost the same as good news as far as popularity is concerned. While this may be the prevailing attitude of many young ladies in Hollywood, it is certainly not shared by all.

The Good Girls

A few girls are left that prefer to keep a low profile off the screen. Some of the old staples, for example Jessica Simpson, have tiptoed to the edge of the good girl image with sexy videos, but some stay solidly behind the line. Mandy Moore has been very public about taking her role model status seriously and others like Miley Cyrus and Dakota Fanning are following in her footsteps.

For example, Miley Cyrus is serious about protecting her image. With a father already involved in the entertainment industry, she knows the damage fame and popularity can do to a young actress. She is lucky, however, to have as much support as she does. Miley did not come to Hollywood alone, but rather brought her entire family with her. The Cyrus family make time together important and even attend church as a family every week. It’s unlikely this good girl will ever go bad.

Miley Cyrus: A Mother’s Dream

Young girls don’t have enough good heroines to look up these days. Sure, there are lots of cute girls running all over the television, but half of them seem to be on the verge of stripping off the rest of their clothes and the other half are unbelievably goody-two-shoes. I was a girl myself once, and I can still remember Punky Brewster and the girls on Full House. It just seems like now that I’m a mother, I can’t seem to find the same “normal” type of characters for my daughter to watch.

Role Model
I know that I am the best role model my child needs. I already do what I can to avoid some of the nastier curse words around her and find nice things to say to and about everyone. (Believe me, it’s definitely a challenge sometimes.) I carefully screen her friends (and her friends’ parents) to make sure she isn’t going to be hanging out with the next Brittany Spears or Lindsay Lohan, but there is definitely something lacking still.

When I sit down to watch television with my not-so-little girl in the evenings, I want to find something that everyone can enjoy and something that is appropriate for everyone. This leaves out 99% of the reality shows and anything on a music channel. As far as evening television shows go, there just isn’t much out there that satisfies the whole family.

A Stroke of Luck
Fortunately, we had a serious stroke of luck the other day. A friend, who also has a daughter too old for Dora and too young for the Housewives, stumbled across Miley Cyrus. Not only does Miley play a great character on her television show, she also is a quality person off the screen.

Onscreen Miley plays a girl who struggles with her true self and leans on her friends and family for support. She dresses appropriately, but fashionably, and looks healthy and happy. She is everything I know my daughter is and offers her a role model she might try to emulate.

Off screen, there is even more to Miley Cyrus. She is a real singer with a real solid wholesome family. She lives with her family who tries to protect her from the crazy Hollywood lifestyle and actually attends church every Sunday. Her father is a famous singer, and Miley is working to become one herself – in fact she’s already there. A wholesome family girl who goes to church while following her dreams? What else could a mother ask for?

Building Up Miley Cyrus
So without being obvious about it, I starting working to build up a “relationship” between Miley and my own rising starlet. We watched her show together; we shopped to find clothes like her. I even found some online Miley Cyrus dolls on TheDollPalace.com that were a big hit. I’m not looking to raise a clone of Miley, and my daughter would never allow it, but if my angel is willing to look up to Miley, I’m certainly not going to discourage it!