Shining Sports Star in my eyes...

In my opinion, it is important for children to have role models. I do not agree with the fact that it necessarily needs to be a professional athlete; it can be anybody, famous or not, who has the right attitude towards life. For children, it is very important to realize that their closest role models should be their parents, teachers, and, if they participate in a certain sport, their coaches. As I see it, fame does not make a great role model, but the correct approach on how to tackle different problems in life. Athletes of course can help children to have somebody to look up to and admire. Nevertheless, they should not forget that athletes are just people like them who also make mistakes. Media puts a lot of pressure on all of us; athletes, parents and their children. In many people's eyes, athletes should represent the best of themselves, only positive aspects, and by god please don't be human and show that you are able to fail as well. Advertising and commercials make this even worse. They idolize athletes who - for me - are just regular people as you and I.
Once I have kids, I would like to teach them the difference of athletes being great in their sports and athletes being great in their private life. I want them to understand that these professionals became famous for what they achieved in their career and not what they have done outside of that. As I mentioned before, everyone makes mistakes and even the greatest role model, athlete or not, is not perfect. As William Rhoden says "Perhaps we can agree, moving forward, that our sports heroes do good things but do not have to be good people."

Role Model commercial

St. Louis Rams 2012 TV Commercial -- "Role Models"

The Role Model Controversy and its NEGATIVE side

"At the same time, […] we all have to recognize that some people are well-suited for that role and others aren't. […] [S]ome of them are 19 and 20 years old and are no more than recent kids themselves" (Donald Fehr, head of the baseball player’s union). When examining the negative side athlete role models have on children, the first obvious issue is aggressive behavior and violence. When a grown man in the NFL is yelling at the referee and gets away without a penalty, the chances that a boy playing in one of the youth leagues will copy this behavior are immense. A more drastic example is the one of former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez who was indicted for murder in June of this year. Television and internet reported on a daily basis about his case, the internet still does as of today. Parents were encouraged by the Patriots organization to get rid of fan jerseys since they don’t want to portray the former player as a great role model and someone to look up to anymore. "According to Alina Tugend, writer for the New York Times, "The more exceptional performers are, the less we may learn from them," said Chengwei Liu, an assistant professor of strategy and behavioral science at the University of Warwick in Britain." This statement is also true for the abuse of drugs and steroids by professional athletes today. On the one hand they pledge not to take anything, but on the other many of them do anyways to become or stay the champion. Famous examples of these cases are sprinter Marion Jones, road racing cyclist Lance Armstrong, and baseball player Barry Bonds. "Kids pick role models because they win," wrote Soven Bery. When children see what their role models are doing, are they supposed to do the same in order to win?

The Role Model Controversy and its POSITIVE side

Athletes are most likely to be viewed as a child’s hero who is able to do anything. Everyone loves and looks up to them. "Great athletes teach us more than how to swing a bat or block a pass. In the face of seemingly impossible challenges, they teach us that success--whether on the basketball court or in the classroom--takes dedication, confidence, and a hefty dose of hard work," writes Shaila Globus, writer for Weekly Reader publication. In addition, athletes set positive examples by always having faith in themselves, stay calm in rough situations, and set their whole heart on what they love to do, which is being successful in their sports. Persistence, devotion and determination characterize a great athlete that children admire. Most of the elite sportsmen also dedicate time outside of their actual profession to local communities. "They raise money for charities and act as mentors, talking to student groups and volunteering their time to programs that help kids stay off drugs and stay in school" (Globus). Society appreciates them a lot because oftentimes they take over the role of parents who should be the child’s premier role model, but unfortunately cannot manage to do so. "Athletes are role models for kids, even if they aren't good ones. Children say that famous athletes rank second only to parents and are on par with their teachers as the people they admire most," said Soven Bery, writer for Bleacher Report.

What are ROLE MODELS?

In order to discuss the position of athletes being seen as positive or negative "role models", the term needs to be clarified first. As reported by Marilyn Cram Donahue in her article "Athletes as role models: looking for a good role model", a role model "is a person you admire and want to emulate. He or she will have some of the same interests and talents that you have […], does not have to be a famous person, but he or she must be successful in some way and inspire you to do your best."

Athletes, are they good Role Models?

Who is a "Shining Sports Star" aka. Role Model?

“Wow! This woman is super fast. She is faster than everyone else. I am sure that she practices every day for many hours. Lifting weights to strengthen her muscles, running laps to improve her endurance, and sprinting, sprinting, sprinting to become faster and faster and faster. She is soooo pretty too. I hope that one day I will be exactly like her!”

These were the thoughts I had about former sprinter and Olympic gold medalist Marion Jones. Since I joined my track team in Dresden, Germany, Mrs. Jones became my idol, my sports hero and role model. I worked out three to five times a week just to be as successful as she was. Once I grew older, I received the news about her cheating in competitions and taking performance enhancing drugs. The image of my sports idol was changed forever.
Relating to personal experience, I will discuss the importance of professional athletes being seen as role models by children. On the one hand, they can set a positive example for them, teach, and motivate them. On the other side, they can have a negative influence on children by demonstrating bad behavior, for example with the abuse of drugs, doping or violent behavior outside of their sports. I want to show how media portrays pro athletes as role models and what effect they have on society. An important position in understanding why children are likely to choose an athlete as a role model is to examine the influence of media in this case. According to George Rodman, author of Mass Media in a Changing World, “Social modeling is considered an important part of socialization, the process by which a child learns the expectations, norms, and values of society.” It is part of the social learning theory which believes that all humans learn by watching others, containing famous people such as actors, musicians, politics, and athletes who are represented in the mass media as well.