Thursday, October 29, 2009
Whether they want to be or not, athletes have become role models and should view themselves in this way. The reason athletes make the money they do is because of the media coverage they get. If the media didn't cover them like this, they would not have their celebrity status, and not get paid the way they do. This status comes with responsibility and whether they like it or not, they are role models to young people around the world.
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Expand on this. What is a role model in your opinion? Does the fact that children most likely won't know the athletes personally complicate matters? Expand and strengthen your argument.
ReplyDeletegoing on to wat edward put and what nik has posted i dont think a child has to know the athlete's personally. The child is just looking at what he see's on tv and in magazines or what he gets his sports from. They just see these hard working, driven guys out there making lots of money and that is what they want. Kids don't think about the personal aspects i feel like. They just look at whats on the outside and what they can see.
ReplyDeleteI think it is important to differentiate from an athlete on and off the field. Its okay for a kid to look up to an athlete on the field, but they should be more careful about looking up to that same athlete off the field, if that is the case then it doesn't really matter if they know the player's personality, they just need to see how they play on the field.
ReplyDeleteI agree with esebert that a distinction needs to be made between the on and off the field differences. I think this distinction is very important; it is a very fine line in my opinion. Just because someone is in the spotlight doesn't make him a good potential role model. At the same time, I'm not saying that athletes have to somehow prove themselves, but I think doing so would only help (for instance, charity work). I also think that one thing that kind of gets lost in the discussion is what exactly a role model is. To me, it might be kind of hard to distinguish between the on and off the field issues. For a hypothetical situation, lets say there is an athlete who has won 3 titles but at the same time has off the field issues similar to a Pacman Jones. Do we want our kids emulating that person? That is something that each individual would have to decide for themselves.
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