Athletes Shouldn't Be Role Models

The idea that people who make millions of dollars to play a game should be idolized by our youth today is a travesty. What are kids supposed to think when they see stories regarding steriod use among baseballs greatest sluggers, including Bonds, Mcgwire and Sosa. Is that the type of message that we should be sending. That you must do whatever is necessary to succeed, even if it means cheating, lying and hurting yourself in the process. More and more, high school athletes are taking the lead from professional athletes who are at the pinnacle of their respective sports, and more and more it is leading to disaster. Steroid use is at an all time high among high school seniors, a direct correlation to the mammoth statistics by superstar sluggers who cheated the game.

A 2004 national survey reported that 3.5% of high school seniors reported using steroids, and increase from the 2.1% back in 1991. In such an ultra competetive society in which we currently live, high school athletes are seeking the edge that will distinguish them from their counterparts. Naturally, in their quest to become the best, they look towards those who have already achieved the fame and stardom which they are trying to obtain. They look towards Barry Bonds, who blasted a record 73 home runs and elevated himself to a new platuea. Bonds, an alleged steroid user, said that he unknowingly used certain illegal substances. This claim has been refuted in a new book documenting Bonds steroid use. A high school athlete looks at this and says to himself that if it means having to lie like Bonds, in order to be the best than so be it.

The steroid situation in major league baseball, and its negative impact on kids across the country, is indicitive of the plight of our values. We have morphed into this backwards society driven by personal success and glory, even if it means sacrificing our health, morals, and integrity. Parents are going to new lengths to get their kids into the best colleges, and make their kids the epitomy of greatness, that they are forgetting that no matter how good you are there is always going to be someone better. What you can do is give it your all, and just be satisfied with that.

Why are we idolizing these athletes who appear driven by greed and glory? This is precisely because our society is driven by greed and glory. Everyone wants to have as the money and fame and Michael Jordan. The measure of success in society is driven by occupation and income. Religion and spirituality are increasingly turning into a route for the weak and misguided, while materialism dominates. When politicians do corrupt deeds then we simply get apathetic about government and turn a blind eye, just labeling all politics as cynical. However when pro athletes and rappers do something wrong, they seem to garner more attention and fame.

It is time to lead our kids in the right direction. What happened to idolizing Martin Luther King, and trying to achieve fairness and equality for all like King. Or, dare I say, what happened to religion. Regardless of what faith, why has faith been abandoned in favor of materialism and wealth. It is because the more you have the more you want. We have become an increasingly shallow society in which we see athetes and actors making millions and seeking millions more, while most of the world lives on pennies. We must change as a society, and return to our roots.