Pop idol worship is a ubiquitous scenario among youngsters in Hong Kong. Actually, in no way does it do others a great disservice, nor does it pose any harm to ourselves as long as we pursue singers and actors sensibly. However, it is not uncommon to see that many teenagers spend a lot of time and money waiting for the appearance of their idols or buying different products with the image of their idols. Obviously, the craziness of adolescents nowadays is beyond words. But what are the reasons behind? Let us take an in-depth look at this issue!
Psychologists have pointed out that during the stage of adolescence youngsters tend to seek self-recognition through imitating the idols they worship. As teenagers may get lost in the run-up to the stage of mature adults, mimicking different well-known idols lets them establish their own identity more easily. Besides, the images of the pop idols are shaped to be trendy and attractive. Youngsters who are unable to distinguish between black and white may be beguiled and follow their idols without sense.
Teenagers, all of whom stay with peers, are easily influenced by their schoolmates and friends. In addition, youngsters are able to acquire a sense of belonging if they follow what their peers do. Therefore, when they often see their peers holding magazines with lots of images and articles about pop idols, as well as discussing issues concerning recent situations of these artists, they will follow their peers blindly in order to get along with them. Hence, this phenomenon becomes pervasive in our society.
It is universally acknowledged that the mass media is flooded with advertisements in which we can find plenty of information about the artists. Teenagers, who are interested in different kinds of entertainment such as TV programmes, magazines or movies, will be swayed easily and thus they go to extremes as well as shelling out a lot to pursue their idols. Moreover, as they can find the information through various ways such as the internet, newspapers, and periodicals, they will indulge in worshipping their idols with easy access to the information easily.
The roots of the problem can be found out with no difficulties, but our major concern is how to deal with this situation and alleviate the problem by leading the youngsters to a healthy life. The following are some of my suggestions for the teenagers to spend their leisure time and energy.
First of all, they may join activities to sharpen their competitive edges. For example, they may attend courses to improve their special skills such as cooking or nursing. On the other hand, they may take up some posts in order to improve their leadership and interpersonal skills. Through these processes, they can find out what they are interested in and what they are good at, and hence they can acquire self-recognition and self-identity.
To avoid being adversely affected by their peers and find a better way to spend their leisure time, teenagers may try to do voluntary work in the holidays. Not only can they help the needy in society, but they can also get along with others and learn how to shoulder social responsibilities. This may also make them influence their peers positively as wells developing a healthy life for them.
Although we cannot prevent the advertisements from affecting us, we may try to choose some articles with issues concerning our society. And then we will be able to acquire more knowledge by reading these healthy materials. Besides, we should abstain from reading the magazines with unhealthy elements. Instead, having a glance at literature or articles in Readers’ Digest will be beneficial to us. Therefore, it is essential for us to choose articles to read for betterment, instead of indulging in knowing the information about an artist if we want to spend the leisure time and money in a better way.
To a certain extent, pop idol worship does bring us benefits as long as we do not go to extremes. Nowadays, it is really the time for the youngsters to think of the best way to spend their leisure time and money.