European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 18, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Charles Barkley is a Good example for basketball players but he does t see himself As a Rote Model off the court. The Colorado Rockies and St. Louis cardinals meet at the Mound during a Bench Clearing Brawl in St. Louis. Role models continued from Page 17 Are intelligence caring sportsmanship and morality not the and world s images of sexiness or Good looks. The traits they most dislike a cheating on spouses drug use lying and bigotry a Are the same ones cited by adults when Capriati was arrested earlier this year for. Possession of marijuana and went to a drug rehabilitation Center Many teen agers Felt sympathy. But none of those interviewed thought her actions should be imitated Quot i feel sorry for her because she was probably feeling a lot of pressure after turning pro so Young but nobody i know is going to do drugs just because she did them Quot said 13-year-old Erica Andrews of Atherton Calif. Quot i mean that s just a stupid. She s arrested she s in rehab it s ridiculous to think that kids will think she s Cool . The phrase Quot role Model Quot borrowed from behavioural science has been pounced on by politicians agents sportswriters and others seeking to invest athletes with a loftier position. It s As if athletes somehow were selected to fill a void left by the tarnishing of presidents police and even priests a those who traditionally stood for moral leadership. People turned to athletes raising them to exalted Levels and upon further scrutiny found them wanting too. Defining what athletes represent in american culture goes to the heart of what children and adults expect of them. When the meanings become blurred so does the athlete s place in society. Quot i m sceptical about the influence of athletes on kids Quot said sociologist Todd Gitlin of the University of California Berkeley. Quot the idea that athletes Are role models or should be is thrust on them because of their salaries. People think that anyone making that much Money must be influential. Quot it s a myth of the Media that athletes Lead the Way for Young people. I think it is ridiculous. I did t think Willie Mays was a hero. To me a hero embodies Public virtue someone who has accomplished something worthy and exemplifies society s Best traits. I never thought of Mays As a role Model either. I thought he was a great ballplayer 1 just that Quot. A a a the degree to which kids Are affected by athletes is. Related to the Impact of other influences in their lives Quot Black inner City kids have fewer models of Success that Are highly visible. In a Way that Middle and upper Middle income White kids tend to have Quot said or. James Comer professor of1 child psychology at Yale and spokesman for the National Black Community crusade for children. Quot a High. Percentage of Black children Don t have two parents at Home and often what they Are exposed to Are unsuccessful models like gang leaders a and drug dealers. The successful models they re exposed to Are very often Given that situation Many in. The Black Community believe that prominent Black athletes like Jordan and a Barkley Bear a special obligation to act responsibly in their Public and private lives. 1 a Quot our communities Are dying Quot said Charles m. Payne jr., associate professor of african american studies at. Northwestern University. Quot there Are families under. Pressure of All kinds. Our children Are not in Contact with nearly enough positive adults. That has to do with coming from oppressed economically deprived communities. Quot the absence of fathers is very often a part of that Mantle though it s not the whole of it people feel they be been locked out of society and that s a permanent condition for them. That generates a certain kind of anger and it s often a. 11 1 a a Lou Harris National Survey last year conducted for northeastern University s Center for the study of sport in society found that 51 percent of Black student athletes. And 18 percent of White student athletes in High school1 believed they would be Good enough to make the pros Quot african american student athletes rely at a shocking level on sports for Fame and Fortune the Center concluded. That finding does not extend to Black children in general according to Thomas a Cook professor of sociology at Northwestern. R. Quot we found that inner City kids and Middle class kids by eighth Grade Don t want to be athletes Don t expect to be athletes and it s not part of their world Quot Cook said Quot it s unrealistic for them. At that Point they re not using athletes As role . A still whether Barkley likes it or not kids do Admire him and whether he likes it or hot he is not absolved from providing a Good example on and off the court for his Young fans. Quot Barkley is effectively saying i am not responsible. I can go around punching people in the crowd spitting on fans and no one should criticize me because i m not anybody s role Mode that s self serving getting one off the Hook Quot said Northwestern s Payne. Quot he has a responsibility to act As a civil adult at least the same As the rest of us. And to consider the possibility that kind of negative behaviour has some Impact on children even if it does t have a kind of primary tuesday what kids say about role models. Of Tonya Harding no stranger to controversy skates with the son of friends in Oregon. Female athletes share the Burden by Beth Harris. The associated press he gleam is always there. Every time Mary Lou Retton signs an autograph or chats with her Young fans she sees the Awe and admiration in their eyes not much taller than the girls who look up to her Retton took on More than an olympic Gold Medalin 1984. Overnight the gymnast with the Radiant smile and bubbly personality became an Ideal for millions of girls worldwide. Ten years later Retton is so serious about her Public responsibilities that she says "if.1 Don t feel like going out and smiling then i Don t go while some athletes like Charles Barkley protest their Elevation to role Model status Retton and Lyga golfer Sherri Steinhauer realize it s part of their jobs. Quot you become a hero you become a celebrity you can t say of i Don to want that role Model thing. I Don t want that Section of it just leave that out Quot Retton said. Quot it comes with the Job and they should accept Steinhauer 31, recently won the Lyga s richest tournament the sprint championship and is among the tour s top 10 Money winners this season. Quot i Don t like to consider myself a hero or a role Model but when you re in the business that i m in and playing in front of people you always have to be aware that kids Are looking up to you Quot she said. Teen age Tennis Star Jennifer Capriati s recent arrest on drug charges illustrates the Downside of being held up to Public scrutiny. A mistake can change everything. Quot it s Tough to be a role Model Quot said Cheryl Miller a 1984 olympic Gold medallist and coach of the University of Southern California women s basketball team. Quot anybody can be a celebrity. You go out and shoot. Someone you re a celebrity it s harder to be a role Model and not everyone wants to. Quot it s a lot of pressure. You re not Only living your life for yourself but for so Many others so if you make a mistake they Don t want to hear it. It Only takes one time for you to mess up your reputation. Your reputation is like your virginity. Once you lose it it s female athletes still have far fewer sports role models than men with Only a handful of women s sports receiving widespread coverage. Television coverage of Home i s Tennis Golf and basketball has increased dramatically in the last 10 years. Figure skating gymnastics swimming and track and Field receive the most. Exposure during. Olympic years. Quot there s just a limited number of role models because television traditionally portrays women As onlookers spectators cheerleaders sex objects. Not As role models Quot said Donna Lopiano executive director of the women s sports foundation. "1 see it changing very slowly but you see changes. You look at something like the number of women s sporting events on Cable in the last five years it s gone from something like1 seven or eight women s basketball games or women s sports events to a number in the hundreds Quot. Capriati s arrest along with her police Mug shot was publicized in newspapers worldwide another indication of How times have changed. A Quot a ballplayer knew in the 50s and 60s he better be a hero Quot Lopiano said. Quot the press knew even if those flaws were there they would t print them. Everybody knew what the game was. Now neither the press nor the athletes know what their responsibility . As a child Retton admired romanian gymnast Nadia Miller 18 the stars and stripes monday july is 1994 a Comanici while Miller looked up to Julius Erving and. Wilma Rudolph. Today their role models Are closer to a Home. A. A a. Retton one of five kids from a West Virginia family of modest Means says parents should be role models for their children Quot i have Good ethics,&Quot.she said. Quot that does t come from being born you have to be taught that. My parents taught me that. I was raised in a very Good Quot my mom and dad Are still my role models Quot said Miller whose father is retired from the air Force. Quot in the society we live in where it s so easy to get tired of your mate to Cash it in and get a divorce they Hung in and with five kids it was t easy All the time. Quot discipline was no. 1 in our household. You answered my parents no a am yes a am you treated everyone with respect. You never Laid your hands on your Brothers and Sisters. It was the constant discipline that kept us out of the drugs and gangs. We weren t allowed to hangout malls and at the time we thought we were missing something. Looking Back we never missed out on . Miller s Candor makes her a Popula speaker at inner City schools but she does t always accept. She feets uneasy at the Prospect of telling hundreds of Popr kids How to Lead decent lives knowing later Shell drive Avyay in an expensive car to a comfortable Home. A 1 _ Quot i feel like a hypocrite sometimes. It affects me. I m not always Quick to go and speak to kids unless i m really passionate about it Quot Miller said. Quot i m thinking How can i realistically help these kids. I refuse to drive away and not do a the stars and stripes 1 9. A. 1
