Topic Paper
Topic Paper
Role Models
Question: Should we allow our children to view professional athletes as role models?
Growing up every child has a role model, and majority of those role models happen to be
athletes. Whether it is a basketball player idolizing Lebron James, a baseball player looking up to
Mike Trout, or a soccer player wanting to be like Megan Rapinoe these athletes are always being
idolized. But are these athletes worth idolizing? Are they showing on and off the field what a
professional athlete should act like? Should we even allow our kids to play sports in general?
These are all sociological issues that are faced in the world of sports.
In todays society many parents overlook the values that competitive sports offer. Some
parents choose not to let their kids play sports due to contact, dealing with losing, social
interaction or other reasons but really they are missing out on a lot of key values. Some of these
key values consist of honesty, teamwork, fair play, respect and others. It is possible to teach your
children these values outside of sports but they are not doing it in a social class of their own
which can be in issue. Younger children need to interact with others in their age group, it is part
of proper development as a child and pulling them away from this can be an issue. Putting kids
into different sports allows them to socialize and learn how to interact and almost be on their
own at a young age which can help them develop as well. All of these key values come from
Throughout the history of children playing sports we have seen a few issues that have
come about due to their activity. The major issue that has come about is brain damage or
paralyzation. One specific example would be football, where one fatal hit could cost a child
serious issues later in life. When issues like this come about coaching should be to blame rather
than the sport itself. If a child is not taught to tackle properly then the risk of an improper hit and
injury is much higher. Their are other external factors to blame rather than just the sport itself
and parents seem to overlook that which is what gives sports somewhat of a bad reputation.
When we do have our children participating in sports they are always going to be drawn
to a favorite, and that specific sport always has a current athletic icon that they look up to. This
athlete could be an amazing role model and play maker on the field, but are they off the field.
With social media today almost everything is caught on camera, especially with the celebrities
and athletes. Making sure your child is viewing an athlete or role model that is successful both
heisman trophy winner on the field. Off the field he was known for his intense partying, night
club spotting, and run-ins with the law. Manziel was a great gifted athlete that many kids looked
up to, wanting to make similar plays on the field and be a quarterback that can make plays not
only with his hands but his feet as well. That is someone to look up to on the field, but off the
Every professional athlete has a personal life and likes to enjoy themselves from time to
time whether it be staying at home with their family, or going downtown with some friends to
enjoy themselves. What happens during these times is their own business and it is the publics job
to respect that, outside of the paparazzi of course. But when your personal life outside of sports
becomes major headlines in tomorrows newspaper about what you did last night; that becomes a
little concerning. Especially when you have numerous kids and young adults who look up to you
to seeing every Sunday. Manziel is notoriously known for his extravagant lifestyle outside of
football which consists of partying, going to nightclubs, going home with strangers, and even
disobeying coaching and management orders close to game days. Dating some of the issues and
allegations Manziel has run into date back to his collegiate career in 2012 where he was charged
with three misdemeanors which included disorderly conduct, failure to identify, and possession
of a fictitious drivers license(Myerberg). There are many other issues that Manziel has had to
deal with up to this current day, and having many headlining criminal stories every year since
2012. Recently in the month of November Manziel allegedly punched and broke a bartenders
With all of the fame and fortune that Manziel received he chose to push the boundaries of
what athletes were able to do, or even get away with. Because of the success Manziel had
coming out of college and being drafted in the first round at number 22 he thought he was
untouchable. After winning the heisman trophy his freshman year that really started a fire with
his behavior off the field and somewhat of a celebrity status. Manziel would be constantly seen
with celebrities partying at night clubs, outrageous pictures and videos of him surfacing through
social media and other improper actions. I don't have a drinking problem, the team has a
problem with me drinking. Theres a big difference(Johnny). When reviewing these actions it
all started out with the money and the fame, which dates back to the original question asked. If
there is a potential prospect athlete either able to play division 1 or professional sports this is not
a trend anyone wants to see. The image of partying and disobeying coming from being
successful in higher level sports is not something we want to portray to our youth. If children are
following athletic icons that portray this image and want to simply reenact what they see it could
they are at the age where anything they see that they enjoy or think is cool they could potentially
try to imitate and risk a lot of consequences. They can potentially be risking their education,
athletic career, or even their life depending on the situation. This all falls back on what some
professional athletes who are in the spot light are doing off of the field. This can also be an issue
of what the athletes choose to do on the field as well. If an athlete does not get a call or
something does not go their way they can sometimes loose their temper and focus, resulting in
taking unnecessary actions. A prime example of this type of action would be Odell Beckham Jr.
who is known for either making outstanding plays or loosing his temper on the field.
In 2015 a game between the New York Giants and the Carolina Panthers got out of
control when Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and Panthers defensive end Josh Norman
began to go after one another play after play. Small hits and harsh tackles led to Odell Beckham
Jr. tackling Norman blindsided after a play which led to a large fight between both teams. This
kind of play is not tolerated by the NFL who fined both players(Benton) but is not right on the
respect for the game and who is watching. We can all understand that things can get carried away
in the moment especially in a competitive sport on the field, but players need to remember who
is watching. The age old saying that actions speak louder than words is more true than people
think. If a young idolizing football athlete and fan sees Beckham Jr. portray this kind behavior
when things do not go his way, the young athlete could end up portraying the same behavior.
This is not only disrespectful but if they are trying to hurt someone on purpose after the play that
can become dangerous. Thankfully this kind of behavior is not extremely common or is simply
televised in todays games. It is beginning to be under more control which is what would like to
With all of these negative stories and facts about a once great football quarterback leads
back to even allowing our children to follow and indulge in having Johnny Manziel as an idol.
People and children are able to follow his every move whether a new story is being featured on
Sports Center, there is a news article, a social media post and the list goes on. There are so many
platforms that can be accessed by our children when they want to learn more about their idol that
it can become dangerous. They are able to learn about stories or crimes that they might be too
young for and those stories are based off the athlete they idolize. This is solid evidence that
shows how big of an issue some sports idols can be, especially to our youth.
In todays world social media is a part of everyday life, many people cannot go a day let
alone a few hours without checking one or more social media platforms. Depending on what
accounts they choose to follow they can be exposed to so many different trending news stories.
Majority of these trending stories tend to be sports related due to how popular they are.
Unfortunately some of these stories are not positive ones, several times a month or even a week
stories cover issues that players are having outside of the game and children can be exposed to
that. Johnny Manziel is a prime example of this but many other professional athletes have had
this happen. One of the biggest social media issues that is athlete related is Michale Phelps being
caught smoking marijuana. Pictures like these can be spread worldwide in a matter of seconds
and right into our children's hands. A picture of their idol breaking the law ad having to face the
A positive reason to idolize successful athletes on and off of the field is because they
have achieved a higher standard of physicality and overall health through hard work, mental
toughness, and consistency. It is because of these and other reasons they have achieved the
immense success in the sports world. These are all good characteristics that can be applied to
many aspects of life. However their higher economic status has allowed them privileges that do
not promote positive ethics for our youth. For example many idolized star athletes such as
Sammy Sosa, Ray Lewis, and Alex Rodriguez have used their social economic status to abuse
their new found privileges to use performance enhancing drugs. All of these examples are
available for our youth to view and have to potential to influence them in a negative way. This
behavior should not be idolized, because it promotes breaking the law and lying to further
It is because of these reasons and many more that kids should not idolize professional
athletes. The power of persuasion they have with their economic status is sometimes just too
powerful for some kids to understand, leading them to follow in their idols footsteps. Whether
these athletes cannot handle the spotlight, money, or media they tend to crack under the pressure
which is what we end up seeing in the media. Currently these athletes are gaining better control
of what they choose to do on and off the field which will hopefully benefit their influential
power. If this is what the future of is starting to see hopefully next decade in sports will be one
filled with talented and influential athletes both on and off of the field.
Works Cited
Benton, Dan. "Redskins' Josh Norman Fined $48,620 for Unnecessary Roughness vs.
Giants." GiantsWire. GiantsWire, 30 Sept. 2016. Web. 28 Nov. 2016.
Development, Swiss Academy for. "Healthy Development of Children and Young People
through Sport." : International Platform on Sport and Development. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Sept.
2016.
Murphy, Ph.D. By Shane. "Dark Side of Youth Sports." MomsTeam. N.p., n.d. Web. 12
Sept. 2016.
Myerberg, Paul. "Johnny Manziel Pleads Guilty to Misdemeanor Charge in 2012 Arrest."
USAtoday.com. USA Today Sports, 15 July 2013. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.
Perez, A.J. "Lawsuit Filed in Texas Alleges Johnny Manziel Broke Bar Employee's
Nose." USAtoday.com. USA Today Sports, 29 Nov. 2016. Web. 30 Nov. 2016.
Richard/AP, David, and Emily Kaplan. "The Fall of Johnny Manziel:." The MMQB. N.p.,
15 Mar. 2016. Web. 12 Sept. 2016.