Finding the right role models for your children

Ms. Cyrus’s appeal among those age 13 to 17 has dropped, too, according to E-Poll Market Research, a brand and celebrity research firm. Of those surveyed online recently, only 24 percent said they liked or liked her a lot, compared with 45 percent in 2008. Those who track preteens are noticing the shift. Tina Wells, a market research executive who consults with Fortune 500 companies, said Ms. Cyrus ranked No. 7 in April on its list of celebrities considered cool by children 8 to 12 years old. Two years ago she was No. 1....

It is tricky for any teenage star to navigate the path to adulthood. (Britney Spears? Lindsay Lohan?) But Ms. Cyrus, it seems, is alienating her fans faster than she is gaining new ones. Partly to blame is last year’s pole dance at the Teen Choice Awards, and the recent video posted on TMZ of her giving a lap dance to a 44-year-old film director.

For some mothers of Ms. Cyrus’s fans, her wrenching transition from teen idol to sexual icon has become a teachable moment.

“I’m just impressed with kids picking up on the change and saying it’s not that interesting and they don’t relate,” said Megan Calhoun of Ross, Calif., the founder of TwitterMoms, a blog for mothers that has 26,000 members. Some have expressed dismay at the shift in Ms. Cyrus’s persona. “It’s almost as if these young stars don’t realize it is a turnoff,” Ms. Calhoun said.

Some parents chalk up her behavior to teenage angst. “It doesn’t surprise me what she is going through,” said Wendy Ellis, a mother of two from Odenton, Md. “The raging hormones. She is testing the limits of the box and what is appropriate.”

-Fans of Miley Cyrus Question Her New Path

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