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Role Models For Today's Youth Should Be Found In The Home

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 25, 2007

I have been thinking about the phrase "role model" for some time, what it means to people, especially our youth. In the midst of my thoughts came the news that another superstar athlete was indicted for drug abuse.

It is an almost common occurrence to see or read about an athlete being charged with a variety of crimes. Yet our youth continue to admire them and dream of being like them.

The fact that athletes are role models is not compatible with the reality that many of them often get away with criminal acts. I am not stating that all athletes are criminals, but it appears that the ones our youth admire most are the ones who break the law with self-admiration and a misperceived notion that they are impervious to consequences.

With their fame, they also appear to be treated differently by prosecutors and judges than the average citizen on the street, which feeds athletes' egocentric self-love and adds to the aura of invincibility that our kids see in them.

Athletes are role models, whether they wish to be or not. They must have some sense of intelligence that tells them this. When they choose to be poor examples of venerable beings, they forfeit the respect of the fan and diminish themselves to the annals of obscurity.

What happened to sports heroes the likes of Roberto Clemente, the Pittsburgh Pirates' right fielder who dedicated his short life to the betterment of society? Unfortunately, Clemente died on a mission of mercy - delivering relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. He was a true superstar as a player, a role model for all youth and an extraordinary human being.

It is easy to condemn the notion that athletes today are the role models our kids aspire to be like. However, when I ask many of our youth why they make these choices, they usually respond with amazing insight. Some tell me, "Who else can I have as a role model? My father doesn't care about me." Others say, "My parents work all the time. They don't have time for me."

These two answers, in one form or another, were the most common responses I got.

Dear parents, when was the last time you took time for your son or daughter? When was the last time you listened to them and understood what they were saying? The first role model your child had was you. If they no longer see you as a role model, you need to ask yourself why.

I see few athletes in the light of being a positive role model. As parents, we need to accept our God-given responsibility of raising our kids and teaching them to be productive citizens. We need to lead by example and show our children that we should be the role models they aspire to be like.

I truly think it would be an honor to be a role model to one person or maybe a few. If you are given a chance to be a role model, I think you should always take it, because you can influence a person's life in a positive light, and that is what it's all about.

Don't worry that our youth never appear to listen to us; we should worry that they are always watching us. The best way to teach morality is to show them by our actions and make it a habit in our lives and that of our children.

No one has yet fully realized the wealth of compassion, kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of every child. The effort of every true parent and role model should be to unlock that treasure and allow it to flourish and grow.

If we fail to do so, we should not wonder why the streams of citizenship are bitter in our youth, when we have poisoned the fountain that feeds the stream.

The writer is a youth counselor and Zephyrhills city councilman.

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