Do celebrities and athletes have an obligation to be role models to our children?

• mallymal614

  I saw this discussion on facebook, so I thought I should bring it on here. Yes or no?
• j_crazy

  

  no, that's my job.
  
  i'm not saying i'd be pissed if my kid looked up to tebow or manning more than me, but i'm not going to use that as an excuse to bash them when they fuck up.
• mallymal614

  lol that's what most of the people on FB said. A lot of people saying it should be the parents.
• Curly J

  

  Ahhh, No
• thedynasty1998

  

  No they do not have an obligation, however they are.
• Fab1b

  

  No IMO
• Upper90

  It's not their obligation. I don't have kids, but when I was young, I was that dude that loved athletes and musicians...but never looked to them for guidance/examples.
  
  Public eye or not, they're humans. Bound to screw up, as we all are.
• DeyDurkie5

  

  lol not at all, and anyone that says that is a ratard
• mallymal614

  Charles Barkley
  
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• SQ_Crazies

  

  Absolutely not. And it causes so many arguments, but it's a joke that a lot of people seem to think they are obligated to be that. They are role models whether they like it or not, but for a person to slam a professional athlete for doing something like going to a strip club because they're supposed to be a role model is ridiculous. Especially when they're the one with kids--raise your damn kids right, it isn't LeBron/Kobe/Peyton/A-Rod's responsibility. If they screw up and it effects your kids that much then YOU are the one who is screwing up.
• SQ_Crazies

  

  LOL, the better question is why WOULD they want to be?
• gut

  Of course not.
  
  That said, owners and advertisers or the league have every right to expect certain standards to be met because it's ultimately their brand. No different than if I owned a business or was a major stockholder I expect a certain standard of the faces of the corporation.
• wizecracker

  no.
• Timber

  All people should strive to be upstanding citizens. They should seek to make their communities better places to live, regardless of race, religion, fame, etc.
  
  So in that regard, yes they should be role models... but, no more than anyone else. Clearly people fail at this, just as will a percentage of celebrities/athletes/entertainers, etc.
• Upper90

  Very well put.
• tcarrier32

  

  the only people that they are obligated to be role models to are their own children
• Cat Food Flambe'

  

  OK - if you are an athlete, no. If you show up and do your job, collect your pay, and otherwise mind your own business, I don't feel you have an obligation to be anything other than a athlete.
  
  If, however, you voluntarily loan your name, likeness, or endorsement to products or causes , you are using your fame as an athlete to gain my attention for profit or benefit. There's nothing wrong with that - but in doing so, you've voluntarily placed yourself in the public's attention, and you're fair game when in public view.
• Red_Skin_Pride

  

  No snow we go! wrote: All people should strive to be upstanding citizens. They should seek to make their communities better places to live, regardless of race, religion, fame, etc.
  
  So in that regard, yes they should be role models... but, no more than anyone else. Clearly people fail at this, just as will a percentage of celebrities/athletes/entertainers, etc.

  Good post. +1
  
  And to add to that, they should be role models, but no more than anyone else. However, since children have close personal relationships with their parents, family, friends etc. THOSE role models should carry much more responsibility and thus act accordingly than someone who has never met you, or your child, should be held responsible for.
• Timber

  Agree... Parents, family, friends and community is far more important than any celebrity in being role models
• Fab1b

  

  IMO people just need to be themselves! I mean if you are fake and exposed, ala Tiger Woods look what happens. If Tiger was this way and the public knew it all along but could still swing the hell out of a golf club it would have never mattered. But he tried to put on a front and be a role model and was exposed as a fraud. Happens all the time. Be yourself and it is what it is!!
• Strapping Young Lad

  

  No one has an obligation to someone they don't know. I expect ppl. to be accountable morally, though I'm sure my morals are much more liberal than most ppl's, so even that's a grey area....
  
  I think at the core however my morals are compatible with most's. Don't kill, don't steal (unless it's from a large department/grocery store), no violence, no rape, no abuse, no racism/homophobes, no hate crimes. You get the idea.....
• dwccrew

  

  No, but parents and teachers do. People that actually interact with children on a daily basis should be the role models.
• NNN

  

  This isn't a yes or not question.
  
  SHOULD athletes by role models? No. ARE athletes role models? Yes. When Charles Barkley made his famous "I'm not a role model" utterance, he was right. A kid shouldn't look up to a pro athlete who he's never met as an example of what it's like to be a productive member of society...that's what teachers, parents, coaches, and anyone who a kid will meet in daily life are for.
  
  But it's naive for an athlete to blow coke off a hooker's ass and then shrug and say "I'm not a role model". A pro athlete, by virtue of being a member of society who young people look up to, have as much of an obligation to do the right thing as those who should be looked to as role models.
  
  This is no different than the whole debate over garbage music acts. Yes, it's true that parents should be keeping an eye (or ear) on what their kids are listening to, but it's also up to musicians to have some responsibility for what they produce.
• jpake1

  

  No they shouldn't. As a parent, that's your responsibility. Don't like they other way people carry themselves, and don't want your child to admire that, then make sure they aren't becoming familiar with that shit. Or have the common sense to sit little Sally down and let her know that Paris Hilton is just a cleanly shaven cunt that can suck a golf ball through a garden house, but lacks anything of real importance. Ok, so maybe rephrase that a little bit.
• 3reppom

  

  No. They can do whatever they want with their lives