Roles of Models

What in the world is this article going to be about, super models? No, definitely not. What I want to talk about is from a suggestion I received the other day. What is my point of view on celebrity and athletic role models? I gave a short answer in the suggestion comments, but I wanted to give it a bit more attention and dive in a little deeper. To reiterate my position, I believe our society’s needs to focus on our athletic stars and high profile celebrities as role models are off base and wrong. Yes, they are in the public spotlight, they are in the media, and they push their ideals and stances upon us via political stances. What exactly have these individuals done to deserve the moniker of “Role Model?” What exactly is a role model? Let’s pull a definition.

“The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition:

A person who serves as an example of the values, attitudes, and behaviors associated with a role.”

There are many definitions available for role models and they all revolve around the same particular subject. A role model is someone who is emulated. It really is a plain and simple definition really. Think about the above definition. It includes words such as values, attitudes, and behaviors. Notice it used the word “and” in the definition, not or, not also, but “and.” This implies that a role model INCLUDES each of those attributes. Now, I’m not saying that NO celebrity or athlete can be a role model. I AM saying that they have to EARN the right to be a role model. Their public status does not earn them the right to be a role model.

So who exactly should be a role model in our lives? First and foremost, our parents should be our role models. Now I know there are parents who miserably fail here, and that’s a travesty for the family and especially the children involved. Parents, before having children, know they will have the responsibility of being a role model for their children. It is a responsibility not to be taken lightly and they should focus their behaviors, attitudes, and values toward accomplishing being the best role model they can be for their kids. Who else is a role model? I think church leaders are role models too. Not only are they responsible for their church members, but they are responsible for showing the non-church members just what their values, attitudes, and behaviors are. Your Pastor should be a role model. If he is not, then I think there is an issue. Another group can be included as role models, teachers. Really? Teachers? Yes, they are in charge of educating our children. That is a very important task. If a teacher cannot assume the responsibilities of keeping their values, attitudes, and behavior in line with being a valuable role model, then they are not fulfilling their duties as a teacher.

Why are role models so important? People, especially young people, depend on what others do and they pattern themselves after those they feel most connected with. If their role model is a baseball player who does steroids to get ahead, the young person, not mature enough to know the consequences will potentially fall into the same path of cheating to get ahead. If a person’s role model is a basketball player who continually flaunts his money and women as prizes, they are likely to assume similar behaviors in their lives. If a child’s role model is a football player who is constantly notarized for fast cars, guns, and tattoos, the child is going to believe those are the goals to reach for. But hey, having role models that are your parents, church leaders, and teachers is just so boring. What could they possibly have to offer to our younger generations?

Promoting good morals, good ethics, how to treat your spouse, how to get ahead with an education, how to serve the needs of others above your own, and how to love one another is just not what people view as exciting and newsworthy. Sure, when there is a call out for donations or needs for charities, they will continually run out people to pull on your heart strings and say what the teleprompter has pre-written, but where are they in the average day? Some, and a very few some, celebrities and athletes have worked hard at being a role model we can look up to. Yes, they are flawed as all role models and humans are. That’s a fact. However, they are TRYING to be the best they can be so that they can help others, help the younger generation looking up to them, and help society by being the best person they can be.

The selfish celebrities and athletes have a pedestal of notoriety which many of them misuse or just flat out disregard. They are missing an opportunity which could help thousands, if not millions, of young people when we need it most. Our homes are broken. Our children are looking for someone to help guide them. They fall in love with a sports athlete or celebrity because they are larger than life and they have MADE it! They want to BE LIKE THEM! Now, you can’t tell me the athlete or celebrity doesn’t realize this. They know where a lot of their revenue comes from, the young generation. In the end, everyone can be a role model, it’s how you behave, its how you act, and it’s what values you believe in. Our society’s need to focus on the famous as role models is entirely superficial and a simple copout. We allow this because being a role model is hard. It’s easier for a child to post up a poster of their favorite athlete rather than spending quality time with a child to impart necessary values and morals to them. It’s easier to let the child follow every media document of a movie star than to take the child to church or to the park or involve them in an afterschool program.

So, who exactly is at fault here? My personal belief is that we have to start where it has the most impact, at home. We need to bring back the values of family. We need to bring back mothers and fathers spending time with their children. We need to bring back church and school to where it means something again. If we get back to our original role models, our parents, then the rest will come. It’s hard with how insane the media has become and how entrancing it can be, but it’s a fight worth entering. Not only will it help us, the parents, but our children will reap rewards that can never be quantified. My thought is for everyone who reads this, think of how you can become a better role model. You never know who might be following what you said, how you act, and what you believe in. While we go through each day wondering what others are doing, maybe it’s ourselves who we should be thinking about.