Athletes as Role Models throughout History

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The world of role models in athletics has been around for millenniums

and can be traced back as far as 776 B.C. when the athletes were thought to

be demigods (half human and half god) and the first Olympic games took

place on the site of Olympia. Though the only event was the 200-meter

sprint, many people looked up to them and expected more than just a 200-

meter sprint from these “god-like” men.(WEBSITE) Today, more and more

people are beginning to look to athletes like the ancient Greek did: for

more than just entertainment. A recent study conducted by the Journal of

Adolescent Health has shown that almost 60% of young people can identify a

role model in their lives. The type of role model has also proved to be

important to prognosticate the health of the adolescents. On dissection,

you can see that those of whom that identified his or her role model as an

athlete, showed better health-related decisions than those whom identified

a peer or an entertainer as their role model. No one is flawless, but

athletes can inspire young people and most are model citizens that we look

up to.

Unfortunately, in recent years, some athletes have been in the news

for inept behavior; however, that group is the minority. There are more

athletes in the world setting great examples than there are getting into

trouble, but the good doesn’t always make the news simply because the bad

is more interesting to viewers. No one in the media is interested in what

Christmas event Andre Johnson attended or how much Tim Tebow puts into his

W15H Foundation. They are more interested in which athlete was found in

which strip club. If the news showed all of the charities and foundations

that athletes participate in, people would get tired o...

... middle of paper ...

...on in the world were as benevolent as Melson

and the members of the Athletes for Hope organization, there would be far

fewer problems in society. (Graham 19; Hewitt “Effects of Good Role Models)

Works Cited

• Graham, Bryan Armen, and RICHARD O'BRIEN. "Fighting For A Cure." Sports

Illustrated 117.17 (2012): 19. Academic Search Premier. Web. 04 Dec.

2013.

• Harrison, C. Keith, and Brian Lampman. “The Image of Paul Robeson: Role

Model.” Rethinking History (2001, Mar) (p.130-177) Web. 05 December 2013

• Ponti, James. "Should athletes be role models? You decide!" Sports

Illustrated for Kids. 12 December 2013

• “Journal of Adolescent Health": Role Modeling, Risk, and Resilience in

California Adolescents; Web. 06 December 2013

• “Olympic Games History - Olympic-Legacy.com." Olympic Games History -

Olympic-Legacy.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013.

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