“The conversation is easy to have because they are seeing those people and reading about them in magazines, and we embrace that as a chance to talk to them about the things that matter, that Lindsay Lohan isn’t a good role model and isn’t someone they should try to be like,” Matush said. “She looks completely cheap in that picture and that’s not who you want to be like.”

There is a difference between the person your child sees in the media and who they actually are.

“People on the movie screen, musicians on the stage and celebrities on the walkway are never who they appear to be in front of others,” Doyle said. “Helping (your child) understand they are real people with real problems just like anyone else helps them to move from role model or hero to someone they can learn from rather than idolize.”

Positive role models

The Bridge has a Ladies Night where girls get together and talk, said Matush. During this time, the girls are exposed to positive role models.

“The staff we hire are women who the girls can look up to,” she said. “A positive role model dresses modestly, saves herself and has a positive self image.

“The girls know these role models are people they can look up to and who care about them. It’s all about relationships.”

Rachel Kubicek writes for The Joplin (Mo.) Globe.