By Jayden Nguyen
Sesame Street has been entertaining children and greater audiences since 1969. The show features talking puppets who teach children life lessons such as education and the value of friendships. To prevent ordinary points of view, the show entertains the value of having celebrity guests, but how does this affect many in their adolescence?
Throughout the show, guests have made appearances varying from famous actors such as Early Grey Jones and Robin Williams to Medal of Freedom winner Maya Angelou to the former President of the United States Bill Clinton. The featuring celebrity guests on the show helps provide children with a figurehead to look up to and strive to. However, influencing children to look up to celebrities at such a young age may harm their individuality.
Celebrities have been a fixture in popular culture since the beginning of media, providing a person whom children can look up to. Since the early days of Hollywood actors have been influencing children for a long time. Celebrities can serve to be a character in a child’s life and are a fixture in the still-developing mind of one. This further influences them into their tween years to find an identity, value, attitude, and behavior. After all, inspiration by celebrities such as comedian Steve Carell, and performers such as Beyonce and Bruno Mars can’t be too bad.
There is some value in featuring celebrity guests because many times, looking up to performers can create more confident children who aren’t afraid to show their character and truly show how the child wants to express themselves. Children’s confidence improves their ability to grow in their future lives and they aren’t afraid to voice their opinions. Allowing children to grow into themselves based on how they perceive a celebrity can shape them into a better person.
Having a celebrity idol is now more prevalent than ever with the use of social media, however as a child grows up and watches celebrities on their favorite kids shows, this is the first exposure to the celebrity. Social media access later in life further continues to develop a parasocial relationship.
Celebrities can also help influence the types of communities that children identify themselves with. Forming communities with people of similar ages and like minds provides a sense of comfort to the children as they grow older. Entering into community spaces where tweens can identify themselves. Furthering their interests as they grow older into teens can help them identify as teens and grow into their future careers.
Although there are some positives to allowing celebrity guests onto a children’s show opening a new world of possibilities to children, there are some detrimental effects to influencing children at such a young age. This includes issues with body image, certain behavioral issues and materialism.
Certain guests and celebrities can have adverse effects on body image, prevalent in girls, with 1 in 3 believing that they need to change their appearance to fit in. Katy Perry’s appearance on the show was highly controversial as many parents believed that what she was wearing was widely inappropriate. This goes into further concern of what type of body is acceptable and could prove detrimental to young girls’ perception of what a healthy body is.
The body dysmorphia in children’s shows only adds to the growing and overwhelming body dysmorphia in the rest of social media as children grow up. Day in and day out witnessing what many people deem a “perfect body” has messed with the minds of many girls today.
Certain celebrities could have adverse effects on a growing child’s behavior, influencing them to make many mistakes and even idolizing a more risky lifestyle. This includes children idolizing the party culture, and excusing the use of drugs and wild behavior because “their idol did it.” One of the most infamous guests on Sesame Street, musical artist Chris Brown, is known for partying and being convicted of domestic abuse.
The rise of prank influencers has created an environment where children look up to and strive to live a wild lifestyle fueled by the drive to strike riches. Some celebrities — such as Bruno Mars, known for singing about riches — flaunt their wealth during their feature on Sesame Street. Images of celebrities surrounded by jewelry and sports cars influence children to have a materialistic perspective as they grow up. This emphasizes other values children should be learning growing up, such as the values of family and other forms of wealth.
Although some celebrities are great sources of influence and can teach them valuable lessons, in many cases influencing children in these ways proves to be detrimental in the future.
