Students become stuck in a revolving door of conformity, trapped in a bubble of media and celebrities’ thoughts and views.

It’s the stereotypical high school past time-students doing everything in their power to fit in with the cool crowd or be normal. Only this isn’t the a stereotype, it’s the cold, hard truth.

They are turning into robots unable to form their own beliefs; it’s like mind control. One famous person says something and all of the sudden there’s a pack on minions trailing them, feeding off their every word. Students adopt the opinions of high profile celebrities without actually knowing what’s really going on.

The documentary “Blackfish” caused outrage among animal activists, along with every other person in the world who heard just a little bit about it. People jumped to conclusions about the documentary when they had little to no knowledge about it. But because it was popular, everyone with a mouth had to speak their two cents on the issue.

And it isn’t just with movies. There are so many types of music in the world, but teens all seem to “enjoy” the exact same thing. All it takes is one semi-popular person to say something about a song they enjoy and they create a whole new cluster of “fans.” Teens end up with an iPod full of music they don’t enjoy and stuck pretending to be a number one fan.

Teens stay stuck in the mold of what’s “normal” and hold no interest in breaking away from it, as they could be rejected by society, or even worse- they might need to become their own person and start thinking for themselves. Straying from the path involves courage and self-confidence, something many students lack or are too afraid to express.

If the brainwashing is ever going to stop, students need to break from the mold and not devour whatever Miley Cyrus or Justin Bieber tweet about that day. Teens need to express themselves through what they truly believe. Forget what others think and say.

Sticking with celebrity gossip is monotonous and offers no new opportunities, no chance to express one’s own ideas and excel to bigger and better things.

It only takes one person to break away from the crowd and use their own brain to form an opinion to inspire others to follow in their footsteps. Be that inspiration and lead people off the beaten path.