ADULT ROLE MODELS

Basketball great Charles Barkley once said in a 1993 Nike television spot, "I am not a role model. . . parents should be role models." Unfortunately, despite Charles’s perspective, athletes, actors, politicians and musicians become role models due to the enormous media propagation of these individuals’ careers.

This issue has come to light recently, from the Super Bowl half time fiasco to recent regarding steroid use among American athletes. I remember teaching during the Clinton years when the President ran into some ethical issues. Try to answer student questions regarding some of those escapades.  

I can speak for the educational community at HMS that we are concerned with the images and audio picked up by our students daily, regardless of parents’ best intentions to limit their TV viewing or Internet browsing.

Yet, studies truly show that Charles Barkley was close to the truth. A study appearing in the January 2002 issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine states that teens who report having any role models received higher grades and have greater self-esteem than teens who reported that they have no role models in their life. More importantly, parents are cited as their most important role models. In a recent Junior Achievement/Harris Interactive Poll, kids stated that parents and teachers were the two most important role models for them.

The power that we have to affect young minds and hearts is unmistakable. The most important part we play as educators is to be positive examples for the students we teach. I am certain that the adults in our children’s lives can overcome the negativity from the mass media. I am blessed to work with teachers and parents who are consistently great role models.

-Bill Carozza