The new culture minister, Barbara Follett, was the latest to frown at such childish ambitions. "Kids nowadays just want to be famous. If you ask little girls, they either want to be footballers' wives or win the X Factor.
"Our society is in danger of being Barbie-dolled," she chided.
In March, a survey for the Association of Teachers and Lecturers found that 60% of teachers questioned said their pupils most aspired to be David Beckham - and that 32% said their pupils modelled themselves on heiress Paris Hilton.
But do Britain's boys and girls really just want to be a shopping-obsessed Wag or a manufactured pop star?
Yes, says former Mirror editor and talent contest judge Piers Morgan - who admits his own guilt in fostering the celebrity culture - and believes that Britain is drowning in Z-list celebrity wastrels.
"Unfortunately, we are now in a society where millions of young people at school genuinely see fame for the sake of it and celebrity status without any discernable talent as a career option - and that's clearly ridiculous," he says.
