TCH News

Issue date: 1/29/08 Section: Opinion

Everywhere around the U.S young girls are turning on the television, flipping through a magazine, or surfing WebPages spotlighting the "hottest teens on the Hollywood scene." The 98- to 102-pound stars are being placed on a pedestal with inscriptions tha read, for example, "Lindsay Lohan has slimmed down and looks great."

Not only are these unhealthy images replacing those of healthy celebrities, but they have become the persistent finger down the throats of young teens.

Many young teens want to slim down as fast as their emaciated idols. Unfortunately, by the time the headlines read, "Lohan hospitalized for bulimia," thousands of girls have already become victims of the ugly disease.

While researchers and scientists waste their time on targeting the eating disorders, teens fall victim to the real disease: peer pressure.

The need and want to fit in with the rest of society has become crippling for young adults. Stacks of magazines lined with chiseled noses, inflated breasts, and shrunken bodies not only fill the aisles of every grocery store, but also fill impressionable and na've young minds.

The celebrities are constantly trying to stay on top and too many of them feel they need to reconstruct their bodies to fit the "perfect" mold -- as do their fans.

We are living in a society where looks mean everything, and if that means going under the knife, or throwing up today's lunch, too many are willing to go there.

So who is to blame for the deadly trends? While the celebrities make the plastic surgery and eating disorders look easy, they too are victims of peer pressure. This lose-lose battle has taken too much from young teens (famous and ordinary) and it is time for someone to stand up to peer pressure and shout, "I Quit."

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools