Correspondence: Can celebrities be role models for young people? For as long as there have been humans on this Earth there have been the people who we look up to as our heroes and celebrities. In Greek mythology Hercules was the celebrity of the day. In many countries the kings and queens or people of power gained respect and their subjects longed to be just like them. In more recent times, movie stars and musicians have become the idols in our lives. Celebrities like Paris Hilton and the Kardashian sisters are but a few examples. This idolisation of celebrities can be positive because it gives young people someone to look up to. However, it is not all beneficial. The problem we face with having celebrities as role models is that if they start endorsing issues which are not positive, it can very easily lead us astray. Take for example Charlie Sheen. He has been the highest paid TV actor for years now, earning $2 million per episode of Two and a Half Men, and he has gone completely off the rails. Smoking, endorsing drugs and alcohol and being susceptible to drunken rages have given him even more attention and made him even more famous than he was 12 months ago. Is this the sort of example we want to give to the youth of today? That by acting out and behaving badly we can get more attention and become famous? No wonder young people can be so out of control