Emma Burns, Managing Editor
In the recent news of Ray Rice hitting his fiancé and Adrian Peterson abusing his young child, Michael Phelps being arrested for a DUI, and many athletes being involved in drug and murder cases, the question of whether athletes should be considered role models for children is being asked by a lot of people. My answer is a clear and definite no.
Former NBA player and current TNT basketball analyst Charles Barkley famously said in a 1993 Nike Add that he should not be one to look up too. “I am not a role model. I’m not paid to be a role model. I’m paid to wreak havoc on the basketball court. Parents should be role models. Just because I dunk a basketball doesn’t mean I should raise your kids.”
To me, Charles Barkley’s statement hits the point straight on. Athletes are simply people doing their jobs. Just like a doctor or stockbroker going to work every day, every profession has its own requirements and responsibilities. Athlete’s jobs are simply to do well in the sport that they play, and to help their team win as many games as possible. By becoming athletes they did not fill out an application or take a course on how to help raise children or to be a spokesperson, they are simply in their position because they are good at what they do, playing a sport.
The thing is it is not only athletes that are exuding bad behavior out towards children; it’s the companies that provide them with paychecks as well. The NBA, NFL, MBA, NHL, and all other major sports leagues, try to cover-up their player’s mistakes, or give them little to no punishment for their actions. Ray Rice for example, was at first only given a two game suspension for abusing his spouse. By not fully punishing athletes, these companies are giving the idea to young kids that their bad actions will have no repercussions. They are being fed the idea that as long as you are a big enough star, what you do doesn’t matter, and you can basically get away with anything. These aren’t exactly traits that children should be looking up too.
As Charles Barkley said, his job is to be a basketball player, not a role model. Why should professional athletes be looked up to as role models in front of other professions? Why not a stock broker, a stay at home mom, the person who works at McDonald’s? Being a role model should rely solely on how the actions of a person, and how good their morals are. It should not be based on whether they throw a ball around for a living.
That being said, it is not the responsibility for athletes to choose role models for kids. It is the responsibility of parents, teachers, and counselors of any kind that have a daily influence on a child’s life. By explaining to a young person that the job a person has doesn’t define them as a role model is essential to stop them from looking up to athletes, movie stars, and basically anyone who gets a big pay check and an hour or so on TV every week.
All this being said, if a specific athlete is all around good person, a hard worker, and contains all the traits that define what a role model should be, then of course kids can look up to them. But just because one athlete is good does not mean that they all are good, and vice versa. Instead of generalizing that all athletes are role models, or all doctors are role models, it should be made clear that only specific people are role models, not professions.
Photo Credit;www.ocvarsity.com
