Everyone is a Role Model

I don't really follow sports that much.  It isn't that important to me.  I only recently found out about Richard Sherman and how he is kind of an asshole at times, especially with post game interviews and whatnot.  Honestly, the section of his Wikipedia page is all I know about him.  But, as a result, Charles Barkley was on CNN today and I caught a snippet of an interview with him, referencing a Nike add he did several years ago.  In this add, he says that he isn't a role model.

Again, I don't follow sports or athletes at all.  I am going to address what Charles Barkley said in this ad and how he is just wrong.

If you don't know what ad I'm talking about, watch it here:

Now, I will admit that I agree with the basic point - that parents need to take a more active role in developing their children and be the first and foremost role model for their children.  I wholeheartedly agree with that statement.  But what he actually says about him being a role model just isn't true.

He is a celebrity.  He was in the public view, more so than a vast majority (I'm going to speculate and say probably around 99%) of other Americans for the mere fact that he was on national TV playing basketball for our entertainment.  Whether he wants to believe it or not, while he was playing basketball, he was more of a role model than most people ever are.  More than I have ever been, and more than I probably will ever be.

Why?  What makes a role model?  Well, to use the term pretty broadly, a role model is someone who is looked up to for any number of reasons.  His reason was his basketball ability and accompanying celebrity status.  And because of that, he became a role model for probably millions of young Americans who may not have had a good family life and found solace with their friends playing basketball, young Americans who did not see the value of education when they could be playing basketball, or young Americans that just enjoyed the game of basketball and played it and watched it as often as possible.  People watched him on and off the court.  My Air Force ROTC instructor is fond of saying, "You are always in a fishbowl."  And this is talking about officers on base, where there's a few thousand people around.  There's usually more people in most arenas on game day than there are people on a military base most of the time.

The point I'm trying to make is that everyone is a role model.  Everyone gets looked at by people to see if they are worth emulating in some way.  I am a role model to the underclassmen in ROTC.  I am a role model to my younger siblings.  People look up to me - either because I have a position of authority over them or because I am their big brother.  And how I act affects them.  If I were to wear my uniform incorrectly or messily, then that would give an implicit signal to the underclassmen that the uniform doesn't really matter.  If I act like a jerk, then that gives the signal to my younger siblings that being a jerk is okay.

But now think about someone like Charles Barkley!  I can affect a few dozen people during the week - he could reach several million over the course of a few hours.  And now that we live in an age of instant communication, what happens at one place can be known everywhere in a matter of hours, if not minutes.  Take, for instance, Justin Bieber.  He was recently arrested for driving under the influence, drag racing, and resisting arrest.  He admitted to police officers that he had been drinking, smoking marijuana, and taking prescription medication.  This happened overnight in Florida, and I knew about it when I woke up and turned on my computer that next morning.  (More and more information surfaces about him: http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/29/showbiz/justin-bieber-toronto-arrest/)

Fortunately, I'm not brainwashed by the teeny-bopping sensation, and actually wasn't surprised at all.  But many of his fans probably were, and are in delusions that he is being persecuted.  #JustinBieberChangedMyLife is currently trending on Twitter.  He has enormous reach.  Fortunately, some of them seem to be either complaining about the fact that this hashtag is trending or are completely sarcastic about it.  But the fact of the matter is, 40 million people are affected, positively or negatively, by him.  He is, unfortunately, a role model.

Which is why the sentiments behind the Charles Barkley ad are so true!  Parents need to be more involved with their children's lives.  Their children need to become to sole focus of the parents' lives.  They need to teach them right from wrong, true and false, and how to discern between the two.  Parents also need to control what kind of message their children are getting from the media, so that they can get other people to aid them in this duty.  It is the primary responsibility of the parents, but the parents can get help where they need it.

Just remember, if there is anyone that would be considered subordinate to you, whether it be by age, authority, family position, profession, or life experiences, you are a role model.  You are sending a message to those people.  But the question is, what is the message you are sending them?