Athletes Should Be Looked Up To As Role Models

Professional athletes making political statements and sharing thoughts on their viewed social issues has been around since games were first being broadcasted and gave these athletes a stage to make a stand. Along with those actions entered debate for sports fans who are stuck between whether athletes should or should not share their views on things “bigger than sports”.This has been missing from professional sports in recent decades but is now slowly once again becoming relevant. The presidency of Donald Trump along with Colin Kaepernick’s taking a knee to protest the national anthem are the two main reasons for the

There is no doubt that sports are one of the biggest aspects of a young child 's life. It is readily available to them and is entertaining. A lot of young people have their favorite player, or their favorite team and are constantly watching and following their lead. They are trying to step up into the shoes of their role model and become as good as their hero. This means that the athlete must set the correct path for the young people to follow. They must be set the right moral guidelines. Kids are going to grow up and try to be just like these athletes and it is the responsibility of that athlete to give them the correct image to strive for.

Every child at some point in their lives dream about becoming a rock star, doctor or an astronaut, but the career that stands out the most is becoming a professional athlete. Why? One reason could be the ever increasing media coverage on each individual sport with certain channels devoted for just that particular sport, keeping viewers updated and thirsting to get out and play. Another could be the ease of getting out in the backyard as a kid to shoot the basketball, throw a football, or hit a baseball because it is harder to perform heart surgery or fly to the moon when you're only a child. With that being said; it is easy to look up to a professional athlete and put your heart and soul into them wearing

Millions of dollars in their pockets could be a dangerous idea. They may not be able to withstand the pressures of professional sports and spend all their money on drugs and alcohol. What they do not understand is that once they are in that spotlight, there is no turning back. Young athletes are exciting to see in professional sports, but it makes you think of what they actually went through and handle in everyday life as a teenager. In addition, Isamu Bae says ?Professional scouts must attempt to decipher the maturity level of players, and for athletes in their teens, it is nearly impossible to figure out.? Growing up, the time a child would have playing with his friends or going to the movies, would not be there like for any normal kid. They made the sacrifice to play sports rather than have a social life and be a regular kid.

This brings a negative impact on kids, because they see these things and want to become athletes so they put their all into athletics, and forget how to become human beings in the real world, for example an article written by NPR, “26 percent of U.S. parents whose children in high school play sports hope their child will become a professional athlete one day. Among families with household incomes of less than $50,000 annually, the number is 39 percent. According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, only a tiny percentage of high school athletes actually go on to play professionally — roughly 1 in 168 high school baseball players will get drafted by a Major League Baseball team, and just 1 in 2,451 men's high school basketball players will get drafted by a National Basketball Association team. (NPR, 2015)” based off these percentages, it is harder to get to pros, and as a kid, seeing these athletes in all this fame, isn’t showing them, that likely hood of them becoming a pro athlete is slim, but being an athlete isn’t the only way to have these

Athletes are idolized by people everywhere, and why is that? Because they're famous or rich or can jump really high? No, I think it’s

They are shamed for not contributing to the community like fire fighters or police officers do which is completely wrong. Professional athletes are well known for visiting schools, camps and teaming up with their league to make a difference. The National Football league or “NFL” has had a huge part in youth programs such as “Play60” which encourages kids to be active for at least 60 minutes a day to reduce obesity, recognizing the work for our military service, and providing awareness for Breast Cancer. On October 25th, the American Cancer Society and the NFL are teaming up to launch its first nationwide, breast cancer event called “ A Crucial Catch Day” which will allow underserved communities to have free or low cost screenings as well as education on the cancer. They also take time out of their day to participate in programs or visit schools. The impact an athlete can have on a child for just 10 minutes can be huge. Whether it involves providing motivation at a school assembly, donating for an important cause or help run an organized youth camp, athletes do a lot for us to, and it should not go

My point is, why would athletes even be suited to be role models? Because they're on television? In the words of the great Charles Barkley, "Just because I can dunk a basketball doesn't mean I should raise your kids."

Social Status is an individual’s position in a stratified social order (Conley A-11). In other words certain people maybe look at athletes differently because they play a sport, and because of there accomplishments. Kids look them at as role models; they are heroes by younger athletes, and as a positive image to the human race. And once people see professional and college athletes commit a crime or do something wrong they are not setting a good example. Every sport is getting more and more strict with a zero tolerance policy; it has not been stopping the players from committing the crimes, but only resulting in more and more suspensions. In 1993, Charles Barkley said in his famous Nike ad, “I am not a role model. I am not paid to be a role model. I am 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 (www.crimemuseum.org)”. Most athletes do not see themselves as role models to anyone, they get paid to play a sport and that is

hear one mention of that in the news. They are making us believe that all

Often, even without trying an elite athlete becomes a role model for young people, this is because they are fit, focused and famous.

Athletes should not be role models because of the things they do off the court or field. They do way too many bad things that youth hear about which might make them want to follow the same path. According to Gary Sailes in his essay "Professional Athletes: Cultural Icons or Social Anomalies:" 16 players from the 2001 Super Bowl were involved in a crime one way or another. Those crimes range from drunk driving to assault to murder threats. These are things that everyone hears about. A child may not be a fan of a football but sooner or later he/she is going to turn the TV and notice a player going to jail. If athletes are supposed to be role models, going to jail is not a good thing. Society can't say professional athletes should be role

People think that athletes are overpaid. To kick things off, being a great role model doesn’t have much to do with money, but having money has a great effect on who kids look up to. Some of the lower paid athletes aren’t as dedicated like the ones who are highly paid. This gives kids a wider

Athletes can be good role models in terms of demonstrating how to be professional. The

Yes we should expect them to be role models because many kids at a young age want to be just like them because they are so good at what they do. If they get into trouble with police other kids that grow up would want to be just like that certain athlete they have always liked and then they would get into trouble just like they did. So if they were a good role model and didn’t get into trouble their fans wouldn’t make the same mistake like they