Choosing Athletes as Role Models for the Youth Culture

A “role model” means a prominent person whose behavior, habits, or accomplishments are copied by others. The term “role model” was developed in the 1940s by American Sociologist, Robert K. Merton. Merton developed this concept through focus group research that showed that everyday people often compare themselves with notable, public figures when evaluating their attitudes and values. ” Athletes’ have inspiring confidence making people look up to them based on that. They work out and train frequently, which makes people aspire about being like them because of their nice fit bodies. The most important pro would be little kids who dream about growing up and playing a sport and being just like their favorite players. Children are very impressionable to these superstars as they learn themselves, how to contribute to a team or their family. Athletes have been an outstanding competition in this country’s culture for a long time. Americans both young and old, have no problem identifying one or two favorite athletes that have caught their attention as well as their admiration. Maybe it’s because they are larger than life and closer to superheroes than most other human beings. Maybe it’s because they make millions of dollars and frequently appear on television. Maybe it’s because most children dream of playing in the pros. Whatever the reason, kids and fans alike look up to their favorite players and aspire to be like them. But is that a good thing? Athletes have the perfect opportunity to use their success and celebrity power to bring about positive societal change in the community. Some of them know how to use their personal qualities and habits to inspire high moral values in their fans. Sports are huge in the media around the world.

Sports are distractions that people tend to go to when they want entertainment and fun. As we see athletes that receive awards, fame, and money while enjoying what they love can be things that inspire and motivate us. These are some traits that we like to see in potential role models. True role models are those who hold the abilities, skills, and qualities that we would like to have. Role models are those who influence us to be a better version of ourselves. Being that this class is all about sports, the topic that I chose was athletes as role models for the youth. Most people role models are a family member, friends, or someone close to them; some even view role models as athletes. Many example athletes that children look up to are Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Serena Williams, or even Tom Brady. These are common athletes that children admire. I think that athletes should pose as role models. Athletes are role models that demonstrate great qualities like self-confidence, goal setting, self-discipline, professionalism, dedication, and many more. Children that view athletes as role models can use these traits, skills, and qualities throughout their lives. Most athletes obtain a persona for people like children who look up to them. This topic is appropriate for the study of sociology because sports are deeply embedded in American culture. Sports have an intense relationship with significant sociological elements including schooling, free time, and social stratification social mobility, race, and gender issues. Athletic role models' significance can be used in all parts of society, for example, in the media, businesses, cities, and public schools. In article one of my research, entitled, “The way Americans regard sports heroes versus intellectuals speaks volumes”, said “A culture can admire both the physical and intellectual. The achievements of athletes inspire us to push the boundaries of what our bodies are capable of. We can run faster, jump higher, endure more punishment than we thought. That makes us all realize we have untapped potential. When a person experience joy in an activity, we tend to put all of our best efforts.

An article called, “Positive Deviance among Athletes: The Implications of Over conformity to the Sport Ethic. ” This article was related to my topic because its main focus was to analyze the behavior among athletes. This article was written by two professors at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, named Robert Hughes and Jay Coakley. This article was intended to explain what is meant to be an athlete. It talks about being an athlete involves four major beliefs, (1) making sacrifices (2) striving for greatness, (3) accepting a risk and playing through pain, and (4) refusing to give up. These are things that are taught to those who participate in any sport. This article says that athletes are probable to build a bond with other athletes that feel the same way about sport. Many athletes said outsiders do not understand what it takes to be an athlete, and how much pressure it takes to uphold expectations for people that admire you. As for any person that is admired by someone, we try to do our best to make things more stressful. A powerful quote that sums up the article stated “The motivation is not just to win, or to make money, or to please a TV audience; more important, it is simply to play, to be an athlete, and to maintain their membership in the special and elite athletic fraternity,” The article related to this topic in reference to children in sports because it teaches them what it takes to be an athlete and things people look for in order to even be a “good athlete. ” Being that children see the athlete as heroes, it makes the athletes. I learned that athletes do more than just competing in a sporting event, it’s a lot more they have to do.

When someone becomes an athlete, they do not choose if they want to or not role models it is forced on them. In conclusion to the article, it says that at present we face a future without any clearly defined ideas about what achievement in sport means in light of the escalated rewards associated with participation, the increased importance assigned to sport participation in the lives of many young athletes, and the new technologies available to enhance performance. There is a need for new guidelines to replace the old ones. After researching these articles, the journalist and scholars report that this phenomenon can be both positive and negative for youth. This is because often many children tend to repeat what they see. Everyone day may not always be sunny for these superstars, they may be having tiresome day and can do things that they don’t typically do, and this can result in bad behavior. It is not intended, but if a child that admires and adores a person that is acting in such bad behavior, it can be negatively influenced by that person. Being that my paper is not to focus the cons of this phenomenon, but to see how athletes demonstrate role model qualities. There was a book called “Serena Williams” by Daniel Paisner, that gave insight into the life of a worldwide athlete. Serena Williams is known for her well-driven talent for playing tennis. She has been in serval headlines over the years. She won many games and awards. Serena Williams was born in Saginaw, Michigan, she is known for being the revolutionized women tennis player and producing exceptional comebacks on the Grand Slam level. Many people look up to this modern superstar, even her sister, Venus Williams. As in words of Venus Williams, she said, “On the court, Serena is the most challenging opponent I’ve come up against, and off the court, she is a loving sister and a true friend. Serena has been a role model for me and an inspiration. ” Serena Williams will always be a common face in the tennis community. She is a positive representation of a role model. She is always positive and encouraging. She later said that “As I write this book it looks like I can keep to my principles on this and I won’t be fined or suspended but I don’t care either way. I have a responsibility to those little girls who look up to me, just as I have a responsibility to myself…” This quote lets us know that she is a leader and a great role model. She’s taking into consideration the youth that is shadowing her every move. Her determination plays another factor in her being a role model. She puts all effort into becoming great, and she manifests in her dreams. Two additional things would significant to this topic are role models that declare they do not want to be role models and bad behaviors of athletes. Many athletes tend to say that they do not want to be role models because they feel as though it adds too much pressure, and it overwhelming. They do not like to be put in a position that may let someone down or make it seem as if they are not trying to do their best. This can be negative because those that do not want to be role model, may not care about the behavior, act, or language they are using that the youth is visualizing. Bad behaviors can reflect on what youth think is cool, because they may feel like if the superstars are doing it then why can’t I. Children follow what they see, and we as adults are supposed to lead by example. Many athletes may feel that this is the parents' job to teach their children norms, morals, and values; not athletes. The author in the book talks about how sports build communities and sports reflect character traits like cooperation and teamwork, sportsmanship, hard work, dedication, excellence, obedience to rules, and commitment and loyalty. These are traits that every child should encounter within themselves. They also said that we often can find in sports the reflection of ourselves. Sports are a part of many Americans around the world.

Sports become part of children's lives through their parents and schools. Many students that are involved in sports are more likely to be in connection with who they are physically and mentally. Sports help them learn new things about themselves that they didn’t know to exist. As for anything in life that has pros can also have cons but looking at the bright side of things; in sports, the good outweighs the bad. The book also talks about sports on other levels, for example, interpersonal, group, and societal levels. Sports on an interpersonal level is the relationship that affects individual participation and access to sports. The interpersonal level is divided into five main sublevels, family, peers, teachers, coaches, and role models. Role models can inspire individuals to continue to participate in sports and improve their abilities. I think that athlete roles are important for children. I also think that every child should have the chance to be involved in at least one type of sport. It teaches them the proper way to handle situations later in life. I was not an athletic person, but I have witnessed ways on how sports contributed to a person’s life. Sports can help children blossom and be confident in themselves to try and learn new things. Athletes also help promote physical well-being. It makes children more active. Organizations like Sports is overall good for children because it builds character, social skills, cooperation, and leadership. When a child admires what someone does, most likely they are going to follow those traits the person had to offer. Children that are more involved in sports at a young age, they have better chances of being a better person. They learn traits that they are likely to use in the future, whether in a workplace, school, or at home. They learn how to properly approach and respond to any situation even if it is good or bad. After research and reading about these role models in sports, I wish that I have played sports.

Children need to be in contact with the sport because it helps the, gain social skills. Thinking about all the things that sports offer, I probably would have been more of an extrovert. I am not very social, but I can be when necessary. I am quite shy and often to myself. But, if I were involved in sport, I would have taught me ways on how to cope with certain situations. It would have helped me determine my strengths and weaknesses and how to improve things that I needed to work on. Social skills play major roles throughout our lives from adolescence to adulthood. The way the world is today, children need all the positive influence they can get.

So young children going down the wrong path because they have so much free time on their hands. With sports, they will not have time to participate in anything that may jeopardize their opportunity. Like I stated before, being involved in sports teaches time management and leadership roles. In a social world, sports reflect our norms, values, and desires, can build and maintain social groups and has the power to transform society itself. Most importantly, I think that athletics is a good role model for youth. I enjoyed this topic because I did not realize how much of an impact that sport has on society.