Are Athletes Role Models?

My personal view of the situation is this: athletes can be role models, but at times can also be bad examples to follow. In a society where big stars like Pacman Jones, Michael Vick, and Michael Phelps are portrayed the way they are, based on their corruptive actions, one must not also forget those true behind the scene role models that dedicate time out of their lives to bless and impact those in need. We are easily given images of Pacman Jones getting arrested, Michael Vick getting convicted for his dog fighting ring, or even, Michael Phelps most recently getting suspended for being caught smoking weed. However, what about those athletes who visit hospitals to inspire those kids who have fatal diseases to keep believing and fighting strong? What about those athletes who help the poor gather food and clothing in order for them to live somewhat of a better life? Are we to ignore these courageous actions by those men and women due to corruption of a selected few? Although our very morals and values in which helped establish this great nation are going down the drain, we must still realize what sports is to the American people. “In a world where people move around and families often fall apart, sports may be the closest thing to community some people find”, according to sports sociologist Dr. Jim Frey at University of Nevada, Las Vegas. So are athletes really corrupting our society?

Young America needs to realize they hold the most important key to life: freedom of choice. With that we are able to make decisions with the use of reasoning to make the appropriate, or what seems to be, choice in which we can make an impact on either one’s own life or the lives of others. Athletes are human like all of us, and thus, some will be making the wrong choices due to not knowing better or not knowing the consequences there of. When we see an athlete take a fall from personal actions they have taken, don’t try to reenact their decision making. On the contrary, learn from their mistakes and become a better person because of them. Also, when we see an athlete, like most, who are there to have a decent life and make the lives of those around them better, take in their success and what it took for them to get there because that is the perfect example of what it is going to take to get there. This is in order to understand that the better things in life do not come easy, but rather through hard work and dedication. This would help people get back to the morals and values that have helped us move forward as a nation. Then hopefully, one day, we will see a far more mature society who has learned from the mistakes of those before them, and therefore make decisions that will further help this world move in a better direction as a whole.