Athletes as Role Models
In today's world, sport stars and other athletes are looked up to by all ages. Everyone loves them. They look great in the eyes of the everyday public. They appear on television, they perform like rock stars, and do this with the entire world watching. No wonder we make heroes out of our favorites. They are seen, as heroes because they can do things that most of us can't. They hit fastballs at 95 mph, leap at balls in mid air, or defy gravity and throw down a dunk. Their words are repeated and broadcasted throughout the world and their faces have appeared on the front of cereal boxes. But if you examine athletes while they're not on the court or on the field, you can see what they are like in every dimension. Athletes have many positive and negative sides that affect their public face and both benefit and harm their abilities to become role models. The athlete as role model is by no means a new issue. In fact it is quite ancient. As distant as 800 B.C., when the Olympics were first played in Greece, the athletes all paid homage to the Greek God Zeus. Olympia was originally on the sacred site of Gaia. Sports were started as a religious ritual and the athlete was considered a demi-god, representing both the spectator and the
In conclusion, athletes inspire and encourage as well as bring upon a bad influence on society today. They know what they are in the spotlight to do and by all means they accomplish it. Good and bad come out of sports and with today's media; it's swallowed up and spit out in many different forms. Everyone out there is watching and for a prime time athlete, every decision is monitored. The athlete as a role model is not an issue; it's a part of everyday life. Although student-athletes are involved in this, some places are doing something about it. In North Andover, MA for example. Student-athletes will lose their right to play just for being in the presence of alcohol or drugs (Ogden). As it stands, athletes caught actually drinking or doing drugs face a two-game or two-week suspension from play (Ogden). In 1989, about 8,000 schoolchildren from the San Gabriel and San Fernando Valleys, carried red, white, and blue balloons that read "JUST SAY NO" into the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA for an anti-drug rally (Simross). This is just one program invented into helping young students realize how negative drugs are. Ira David Wood founded an eight-month leadership program designed for high school athletes. "Leadership by inspiration is just one event of the eight month program. The program involves experiences designed specifically to use as many as the participants, senses as possible. When they can see it, feel it hear it and smell it then a memory is created, and a memory means they'll have a recall. Student-athletes involved in the program participate in police ride-alongs and mock city-council meetings; they solve community problems and tutor and coach elementary students (Kurek). If they want the love from the fans, then they better not misbehave. When the media gets involved, some say that they should just report the news. But this is like saying when they score a touchdown don't celebrate. The media can voice their moral position. In doing so, they are very straightforward. The media has an obligation to define issues, report wrongdoing, and at times act as a moral barometer for the sport culture (Ferraro). Tim Wakefield of the Boston Red Sox is another pro athlete who has done good deeds especially for kids with disabilities. Wakefield ran a golf tournament (Tim Wakefield Celebrity Golf Classic) in Jan. 1993 and raised $40,275 for the Space Coast Early Intervention Center, which would have closed down in July of 1992 if it weren't for the head of the center, Betsy Farmer, a close friend of Wakefield. In the past eight years, Wakefield has raised $1,127,704 for the organization, which has subsequently blossomed into one of the nation's leadin
Some common words found in the essay are:
Globus Athletes, , David Wood, Ogden Misbehavior, Gaia Sports, Mike Tyson, Ferraro Courage, Rudolph Born, America Student-athletes, Andover MA, role models, doesn't mean, role model, doesn't mean don't, athletes athletes, athlete role, student-athletes involved, globus athletes, mean don't, drugs alcohol, kids ok, athlete role model,
Approximate Word count = 1810
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
