I used to get great joy out of watching my son get so excited about little things like sports and TV shows. When he was two, he used to act out the plays during baseball games, even going as far as looking runners back on second. He would fantasize he was the Houston Astros’ Lance Berkman, Craig Biggio or Jeff Bagwell when we played outside.
Lately, I have found myself snickering under my breath as he tries to imitate the dancing on the new Disney Original Movie High School Musical. But it got me to thinking, is it ok for him to have role models that are actors or athletes?
We try to teach him all the time to look for the good qualities in people, but are we teaching him to buy into the hype of Mr. or Mrs. Star? Lately with more and more athletes being exposed to steroid use and other scandals and actors’ personal lives taking center stage, I am scared that he will believe that it is ok to be like that.
For instance, my nephew’s favorite player is Sammy Sosa. Sosa is an icon to many little league baseball players. While watching the Little League World Series last year, I think only one or two players did not say Sosa was their favorite player. Sosa used a corked bat during a game. For those not familiar with corked bats, they allow the ball to go farther when hit and they are illegal. He was caught cheating at his occupation. His name comes up often in steroid debates, although there has never been proof that he took steroids. Despite all of this, kids still want to grow up to be him. Is this acceptable? Kids see that he is still near the top of his game and still has a long line of fans waiting for autographs, do you think they believe he did anything wrong? Do you think that kids should view him as someone they want to be like?
Another example that applies to adults as well is Lance Armstrong. He left his wife for a rock star. His wife stood by his side when he had cancer, worked effortlessly starting foundations in his name, supported him through his illness and his cycling and raised his three children just to be walked out on for Sheryl Crow. What kind of message does that send his kids or my kid? Plus, rumors are around that he is one day hoping to throw his hat into the political ring. I wonder how many parents will actually know his political views, or just that he is a tremendous athlete who came back from cancer. Should he be considered a role model just based on his athleticism?
Add to the sports world the actors and actresses and their messed up personal lives, I am considering not letting my kid look at anyone’s talent. Just recently in the news, actor Jude Law was found to be having an affair with his children’s nanny. I believe the discovery was made by one of his children. How scary is it that all of these teenage kids actually see him act and have too developed crushes on a man who is that careless and immoral.
What is scary is that when it comes to actors and athletes, I could have lists and lists of embarrassing wrongdoings. So I guess here is my question. Kids are obviously faced with this type of person every day. Even if they aren’t watching TV, they still are exposed by the news or by their friends. So what do I do? What do I tell my son? Do I tell him not to want to imitate these people because of what goes on in their personal lives? Or better yet, what makes a good role model? I would love to hear your views on this subject and possibly include them in a later article on Role Models.
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