Role Models

After the two cricketers, Shaun Marsh and Jackson Bird, were photographed smoking at the team celebrations in Sydney this past week, I got to thinking about role models.  These young men were instantly spoken about as being poor role models for the youth of today.  I wonder if they think of themselves as role models, or just simply, sportsmen.

After all they were not doing anything illegal, smoking may not the brightest thing to do and we all know it is not good for anyone’s health, however it is still a legal product and they were within their rights, as adults, to be smoking.  And although they were in a public place, it is not as though they were standing out on the field have a smoke in between over’s.

Now back to “Role Models” How interesting it is that people put up sports men and women, actors, actresses and musicians as role models for young people.  Considering none of us (the general public) actually know these sports people or celebrities in person, or what they are really like.  Anyone can put on a good show when out in public, but we really have no idea what these people are like behind closed doors.

Would it not be wiser to encourage young people to look up to these celebrities as excellent performers, sports men or women, actors or musicians?  But, when it comes to selecting roles models for our young people to look up to and emulate, why do we not choose people from our own family or circle of friends?  People who, we have perhaps grown up with, or family members who we admire and respect.   Whilst it is true that we never really know any person, other than ourselves, I guess at least if we choose someone well known to us, as a role model for our children we are promoting the characteristics, values and behaviours of a person we personally know and not simply the media’s perception of a person or the well crafted veneer that a celebrity can present which is not always a genuine representation of the person.

Food for thought, perhaps.

Written by Kathrine Carton   B.Coun