I Am Not A Role Model
The Wisdom of Charles Barkley
By Daniel Muniz
I am not a role model
...parents should be role models.
-Charles Barkley
That classic phrase uttered by basketball
superstar Charles Barkley so many years ago created quite a
sensation. His numerous critics and quite a few parents were shocked
by his apparent disregard of the millions of kids that idolized him.
But Sir Charles is no stranger to audacity and this time he spoke a
haunting message that has reverberated ever since.
But perhaps the greatest indignation he
created was of letting parents know that they shouldn’t be
comfortable palming off their social responsibilities to superstars.
Instead, he suggests that parents ought to do some of the actual
parenting themselves. Just because an athlete makes millions of
dollars and is in the media spotlight doesn’t mean that parents are
off the hook in presenting a positive role model to their kids.
Charles Barkley had indeed done something that
no celebrity had ever done before; proclaim that parents should take
the responsibility of molding the character of their children.
Unfortunately, much of society wants to use
the celebrity status as a form of parenthood. And on the other side
of the coin, there are too many purists who are turned off by a
sport or by a particular team if it has someone who is a miscreant.
But the bottom line is that athletes are simply people who make a lot of
money and are in the media spotlight. That’s it!
And the people who can make the greatest
impact on the lives of children are their own parents. Plain and
simple except for the people who do not want to shoulder that kind
of responsibility.
As for myself, I like to take that message
from Charles Barkley to heart. An athlete is just another form of
entertainment. I personally want to be the individual who makes the
biggest impression on my own children instead of some spoiled
celebrity. Likewise, I won’t let a miscreant celebrity spoil a form
of entertainment that I thoroughly enjoy, such as basketball.
I live in a city that has a basketball team of
amazing champions. Many of these athletes, such as the retired
NBA center, David Robinson, has remarkable integrity and has made such a
positive contribution to the city of San Antonio Texas. But in all
reality, David Robinson’s character is irrelevant to me even though
he is a good person.
I may not be perfect and at certain trying
times, I may not even the best
parent possible but I want to be as good as I can and assert the
best influence in spite of my imperfections and shortfalls. David
Robinson may very well be a great role model but I feel that I can
excel as a better example on a day to day basis to my own
children. Now it would be nice to make as much money as a superstar
but that is a different story.
And inversely, if an athlete is a real dope,
then so be it.
I am not going to allow his or her bad
behavior to take a dominant role in my children’s day to day life. I
won’t stop enjoying the performance of a team just because one or
more teammates are idiots. If I were on a crusade to isolate myself
from all of the world’s idiots, then I would probably be living in a very
lonely place. We are always going to be in a world filled with jerks and I
don't care. And the reason I don’t mind is because I am not going to
allow their bad behavior to influence my life or the lives of any of
my children.
So if athletes do a great job while performing
for their team, then that is great. If they are involved in criminal
activity, then they are innocent until proven guilty. And if they
are proven guilty, then justice should be rendered to them. But
their criminal activity still has no impact on my life unless that
activity was done to me. As a result, I like to view athletes in a
more neutral sense.
I don’t care about their drama, or their
lifestyles, or even their virtuous character. What matters to me is
my life and the lives of each member of my family.
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