Dear Uncle Jay:

When I tell my mom I like Jamie-Lynn Spears or Vanessa from High School Musical or Hannah Montana, she says they are bad “role models.”  What does that mean?  I don’t get that because they’re not even models.

Dear Carla:  A role model is somebody you admire and want to be like when you grow up.  Your mom is worried that you might want to be like Jamie-Lynn and get pregnant at 16, or you’ll make naked pictures like Vanessa, or be like Hannah Montana and find yourself related to Billy Ray Cyrus.  Tell mom you’re thinking about liking Amy Winehouse and she’ll leave you alone.