Miley Cirus
Whether or not you approve, Miley is a grown woman who can do whatever she wants. Since she is also a celebrity, she also gets to do whatever she wants with your kids watching.
Let’s use the 2013 VMA’s as an opportunity to talk about the financial consequences of behavior. They say ‘imitation is the sincerest form of flattery’ and that “art imitates life.” I say “Imitation can be the most expensive form of flattery when the kids in your life imitate what they see as art – the art of disruption.
Publicity
Young people need to know that many of the “shocking” moves we see today are orchestrated for publicity. For the celebrity, all publicity is good publicity. The more “shocking” the more followers, the more followers, the more sales… When the cameras are rolling a publicity stunt is planned to attract the public’s attention and keep everyone talking about it… all the way to the cash register to buy “more” of the shocking stuff. Framing this as a possible publicity stunt can helpt to diminish some of the shock value for our young people.
(Somehow I wish a celebrity would go on one of these shows and read from the dictionary, or explain algebra. That would really be shocking!)
Financial Consequences
Hollywood loves the bad buy – until he gets caught. That’s the whole point – there are consequences for bad behavior. Yes, even in real life.
When sponsors and organizations invest money in a person, there are certain expectations that the person will represent themselves (and the financial support behind them) wisely. We can probably think of a few famous athletes who lost endorsement deals and sponors following some kind of well publiczed issue in their private life. A wide range of infractions can cause financial problems.
When standards aren’t met, scholarships can be revoked, employment may be terminated and the financial consequences get ugly. Yes, some people have been fired over Facebook.
Use Good Judgment
More than ever, we all need to use good judgment in our social behavior, both online and offline. Otherwise, mistakes can become very public and very costly. Very quickly.
The line between private and public can become thin with all of this posting and liking going on. There is such a thing as “TMI” (too much information) and a tipping point (of becoming too familiar). Communicating this to our young people can only help them in the long run. There is no need to be shocked by the world we live. We have to get over it and get on with it, so that our young people can too!
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You’re invited to preview a free chapter of my next book “LEMONADE SOLD OUT”. It’s based on a true story about an elementary school entrepreneur who starts a business to help his friends.
Candi Sparks is the author of children’s books about money Can I Have Some Money?, Educating Children About Money, Max Gets It! and Nacho Money. She is the Brooklyn mother of two and is on Facebook (Candi Sparks, author) and Twitter (Candi Sparks, author). Her website is http://www.candisparks.com
Candisparks's Blog 
“You can give a child a fish, or you can do what is 100 times more powerful, you can teach that child how to fish, and that is What Candi Sparks is doing by educating our children about financial literacy”
Thank you Rick! You are doing your part too at the radio station – can’t wait to come back on share the new work I have been doing – Barnard College, The Girl Scouts, Invood House and more! It is great that we get to spread the word and help our audience make sense of what is going on around them – financially speaking “Dollars and Cents!” Stop by to check out a sneak peek at “LEMONADE SOLD OUT” on my website http://www.sparksfly.org