Princess Perils for Vanessa Hudgens

I don't usually pay attention to the scandals that the mass media produce. This time I have to say something. I saw on Twitter a couple of days ago that Vanessa Hudgens was a "trending topic". Trending Topics on Twitter give you an idea of what the users of Twitter are talking about. Sometimes, it is nothing at all, but when a star's name begins to appear, there is usually an event in that person's life that people are talking about and thus the trending topic.

I followed the trending topic to see what the conversation was about and learned that Princess Vanessa has yet another set of risque photos making the rounds of the internet. This happened in 2007, and she promptly apologized for her mistake. It was handily dealt with as a lapse of judgement and Disney didn't even bother slapping her wrist.

From what I've read, Hudgens' lawyers are saying that the new set of photos are from before the first set surfaced on the net. (As if that makes it all better?) The scandals and the reactions of the people around them say a lot about our attitudes toward purity and standards of behavior! It begs the question, "Why?!" Why would she take the pictures? Why would she show anybody else? Why can't Disney react with anything more like guidance? Why is she still a role-model for tweenies?!

I wanted to comment briefly on the "Why did she do it?" question here today. Vanessa Hudgens started acting when she was 8. I am not saying that 8 year olds should not act. I am saying, though, that it is the job of an eight-year-old's parents to keep them grounded in reality. At some point, it became more and more important that Hudgens follow acting. That is when the grounding in reality starts to become more and more important.

I have a lovely 13-year old daughter. She has always been the apple of our eye. From her early days, we have praised her for her intelligence and personality. I never wanted to see her develop the attitude that being pretty is the final measure of a human being. If we are not careful, that is the message we send to kids, and I wonder if that isn't the message that Vanessa Hudgens began to get.

Disney liked her. Zach Efron liked her. The cameras were always rolling. Was that enough? Maybe just a little experiment with the cameraphone. It is a private matter. Nobody will know. *POOF!* Innocence gone.

On the first occasion of pictures finding their way onto the net, her lawyers expressed dismay that a "private matter" was making it into the public arena. Who could control such things?! Well....Vanessa could've controlled the matter. She could have not taken the pictures.

Once upon a time, you had to take pictures on film. You had to have the film developed. You knew that someone handled the photos, and would see them. Now, we think we can take risks that aren't really necessary because, "Nobody will know." Ask Vanessa Hudgens if anybody knows about the photos she took in private.

I am writing this post for parents. Teach your kids values that will keep some degree of purity as a characteristic of their lives! If anybody has a problem with that word "purity" showing up multiple times in this post...then we really ARE in trouble!