I just wanted to know what yall thought on this topic. I'm really caught between. I feel that athletes are automatically role models once they become professionals because they are in the public's eye and start to attract a fan base. However, I do believe that there are athletes who play for the love of the game and do not want to deal with any of the media or attention. If Iverson was a popular movie actor, I doubt that he would have received as much attention for his gun act this summer. But as a professional basketball player who is looked up to by kids, it put him in a spotlight. As it should- I am not condoing his act. But if ,say, Tom Hanks was caught with an unlicensed gun in his car, it would not necessarily be national news. Not as much as if he would have been a professional athlete. I think athletes are put in a light in which they are looked at under a microscope and every move of theirs is analyzed. That's somewhat unfair, considering they're just doing their job. Just wanna know what yall think. I think it's a pretty interesting subject that can be debated for hours just because you can provide ample evidence for either argument.
Well it just matters. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. If it is a great guy like David Robinson (even though I hate the Spurs), then I can consider them as role models. But if you are talking about athletes, like Allen Iverson or Terell Owens, then heck no. It just matters if they are good or bad guys. If a player is a great guy and a great athlete then I can consider them as a role model.
Good point. I was just curious to see if the majority of people consider athletes as "role models" just because they are seen and heard so much. I know kids look up to these guys no matter what, but they follow everything they do and say.
When I was young I used to consider all athletes as role models. As I started getting older I started looking into them more, like if they are nice guys are not. Athletes can be either great role models or terrible role models. Iverson is a terrible role model. I live just north of Philly, and go to a private school in Philly, and so many people wear his jersey and idolize him. But he is a punk. I can never respect a guy that is such a bad example to kids.
Well, I think with all the run-ins that athletes have had lately, people aren't as surprised when an athlete gets in trouble. If Tom Hanks was caught with an unlicensed hand gun, it would be huge news. By the way, Iverson wasn't convicted of anything this summer and it turns out the two guys in the apartment lied about the gun. As for role models, parents and teachers are the most important people in a child's life. They are the ones that need to steer their kids the right way and not put responsibility on celebrites. Anybody can be a role model, kids can look up to a bad person and think that's the way they want to turn out. You need parents and teachers to instil the right values that hopefully will keep their kids from following the wrong role model.
I totally agree with you. But I think that it is good to have multiple role models. Parents, teachers, and grandparents should be role models, but I think that it is also good to have other role models. If an athlete is a admerable guy, then I have no probem with him being somebody's role models, but parents, teachers and relatives are the most important role models that you will ever have.
What I'm saying is that kids are gonna pick their own role models and the older they get, the least infuence parents can have. So if parents raise their kids right, then the chances are higher that the kids will pick the right role models. We shouldn't chastise athletes and celebs for being bad role models though, it's not our business how they live their lives. What's ironic, however, is that we complain about somebody being a bad role model like Iverson, but nobody ever wonders who his role models were.
I guess that I can agree with you there. I have great parents. They are my role models. I am not a rebel like most kids are. I actually have a great relationship with my parents and am not afraid to be seen with them in public, since they are actually pretty cool.
fantastic!! thank God every day for parents like that!!! unfortunately, that's all too rare today! remember it and do the same for your kids! it's interesting...ask michael jordan to talk about his role models and he always talks about his parents...when dignity and respect and all those other good things are modeled so close to a person...like in his own home...it seems to me that would have a far greater effect than the actions of an athlete we only see at game time.
Yeah, I am pretty lucky. It is actually suprising that my dad turned out to be a great dad, because he didn't have good parents. His mom was kinda crazy, and his dad bascially didn't care. He wasn't mean, wasn't nice, just stayed out of your way bascially. His parents are divorced now. They got divorced when my dad was 19, I think. My dad and his 2 brothers and his sister have turned out perfectly normal. My dad's relatives live in New York (I live near Philly) and I hardly ever hear from my grandfather. It seems like he doesn't even care. I see him at Christmas, and sometimes 1 other time a year. He hardly ever calls. My dad's mom however calls like 3 times a day. She is still kind of crazy though. Luckily my mother's parents are awesome. The reason that I moved from Houston to the Philly area when I was little is because my parents wanted to move near my grandparents. I live across the street from my grandparents. I see them almost everyday and have a great relationship with them. My grandparents are in their early 70s, and are extremely healthy. My grandpa is a dance instructor. I play tennis with him a lot. I also go to football games at my local public school (I don't go there) with him a lot. My grandma isn't into sports, but I still have a great relationship with here. Sometimes I go over to her house and watch tv news programs and talk about my takes on current issues. It is really fun. I am thankful for my great family. I have 2 great parents, a nice sister, and 2 out of 4 great grandparents. Having 2 incredible grandparents makes up for the 2 crummy ones. My parents and my 2 great grandparents are my role models.
my father was an amazing dad, too, and i have no idea where he got it from. his parents virtually abandoned him...and he decided in high school that what he wanted was a family so he could give his kids the kind of love he never had. it was a conscious decision that he still remembers...sort of a lifetime mission statement, i guess. if i'm 1/2 the father to my son that my dad was to me i'll be satisfied.
I take it you missed the Winona Ryder shoplifting incident, or the wanderin, confused Anne Heche, or the coked out Robert Downey Jr.
Role models should be chosen based on individual merit, not profession. In terms of whether or not they automatically serve as role models to younger kids who watch them, irrespective of merit, than yes, as does every other celebrity in a culture which has placed fame and wealth as equating to success.
Athletes are role models, whether anybody likes it or not. Professional athletes with half a brain realize that children will look up to them. For an athlete to deny this fact is irresponsible. Charles Barkley had it all wrong.
No, I was saying that the Iverson incident got a lot more publicity than those other noted incidents. I didn't say that actors were perfect, but just that the we always tend to hear of the athletes' actions moreso than the actors.'
OK . . 1. YES THEY ARE ROLE MODELS . . . . . I think some people are confusing ROLE MODEL to mean GOOD ROLE MODELS all of them are ROLE MODELs. . . some just are not very good role models You don't pick your kids role models. . . they do. You can influence maybe stir to an extent. . but they choose their roles models [that is why Charles Barkley's statement was such bull****. . . cause HE IS A ROLE MODEL . . .JUST NO A GOOD ONE] we can debate SHOULD THEY BE? ARE THEY GOOD ONES? WHAT KIND . . .?? but IMO . . . there is no debate. . THEY *ARE* ROLE MODELS [for good or bad] Rocket River
Athletes are vehicles for entertainment just like actors. But people are more grounded with athletes because they do the things we can do but a lot better. That is our connection with athletes: they're the pinnacle of athleticism and machoness. But like actors, the media sells these people in any way they can. And we all know that controversy sells. That's part of the reason why the "heroic" image of the athlete is destined to be tarnished and ruined. It's because one bad deed by one athlete is going to supercede ten athletes in the same sport that does something good or charitable. We tend to look too far ahead for role models to admire and emulate. I think it's a human norm to be able to identify your hero with other people and in the process, make him/her larger than life. But with media oversaturation, these heroes are forced to appear human. Ideally, a role model should be a person close to home. But not everyone is fortunate to have a gift like that. And not everyone realizes what they take for granted.
