She belts out a high note as she slides down the vibrant, 20-foot tongue stage prop. The crowd roars and sticks out their tongues in response. The music starts and everyone is dancing, until Miley Cyrus introduces herself and reminds the audience to ignore the opinions of others and focus on being themselves.

Many teens notice celebrities’ clothes, hairstyles and actions, and they might be influenced or draw inspiration from them. Sophomore Laron Roland says that celebrities are the most influential people on the planet, because they have a lot of power from the respect they are given. He says they influence because of their good values. However, he says that he tries not to let their bad examples affect him.

“When celebrities do good things, they influence us to do good things,” Roland said. “I think [Justin Bieber] is a horrible influence, so I try to block him from my life. I try not to let him influence me in any way at all. I only let positivity in my life at all costs.”

Roland says he does not dress a certain way because of celebrities, but that his actions and thoughts are affected by certain celebrities.

“I try to be positive and loving to people,” Roland said. “I try to accept people as they are, because love is just the key to everything.”

Roland particularly follows singers Kesha, Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry, because he says they tell people to be themselves and to be comfortable in their own skin.

“[Katy Perry] has a heart of gold, and it’s crazy how pure she is,” Roland said. “Kesha influences me, because she stands up for animal rights and she’s a philanthropist. Miley is very influential to me, because she says that if someone has a problem with you being yourself, then just forget them and live life as yourself. I’m happy that those people are [a part of] my life, and I’m proud to say that I look up to them.”

However, sophomore Sarah Valdez, an actress in theatre, believes that it’s wrong how people are influenced by celebrities that don’t do anything to help. She said that she tries not to be influenced by celebrities, because she does not like giving hype to things that she feels do not deserve it.

“I think if people give all of what they find to somebody that’s not going to help them, [they] go nowhere,” Valdez said. “They have nothing better to do ‘cause their lives are miniscule.”

Valdez says that people are interested in celebrities’ social lives because they are glamorized by the media and that teenagers are influenced by celebrities’ looks and attitudes. She also says that acting has the power to change how people think.

“There are certain actors and actresses that influence me, but it’s because of their acting ability,” Valdez said. “I like to follow actors and actresses that do a lot for the art. It’s not because of what they do with their social lives.”

Read about Staying Cautious of Influences here: https://www.raiderecho.com/in-depth/2014/05/02/staff-editorial-staying-cautious-of-influences/