Saturday, November 3, 2012
Michael Jordan
When I was a child, I used to cry at the feet of my mother, complaining that I wasn't black and bald and that my last name wasn't Jordan. I used to, and still do, love everything about basketball. The attitude, the swagger, the feeling of pure adrenaline coursing through my veins when watching a close game, or even better, playing in a close game. I absolutely love it. However, as I have grown older, the heroes I once had as a child, have been demystified and are no longer the type of people that I look up to or try to emulate. Michael Jordan has admitted to being a compulsive gambler, Kobe Bryant has (at the very least) cheated on his wife, Charles Barkley has DUI's and Wilt Chamberlain (one of the greatest the sport has ever seen) boasts that he has had sex with over 20,000 women. This phenomenon of sports heroes having very public flaws - all which are not in line with the teachings of the LDS Church - is in no way shocking news. How then do we teach our future children to recognize that sports figures are not the type of people we should put our trust in? Should we allow our children to look up to them at all or even push our children into playing sports, when a lot of those who are involved are leading extremely hedonistic lifestyles that are not in line with the teaching of the church?
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I have wondered this exact same thing when thinking about my younger brother and his role in sports. I think the only thing we can really do is recognize that those people are good at what they do, but they could be better all around. I constantly tell my brother. What kind of leader do you want to be? There is always room for people that want to do good and be good. Never settle for mastering the skills. So basically we can applaud people for being good at sports but know that there is more out there than that.
This is a really interesting question/topic! And honestly, I don't quite know what I think. Obviously these people aren't perfect and there wrong-doings shouldn't be praised. I think sports figures can still be role models, but mostly in the athletic aspect of their lives. A lot of these athletes came from nothing and now they have achieved so much. I think that this can inspire a lot of young kids who have dreams in sports. Even if they are out partying, sleeping around, and gambling, they still need to have a lot of dedication to their game. And I can still applaud them for that hard work despite their lifestyle, but maybe that is just me.
Just because some athletes live lifestyles that are not in line with the teaching of the church doesn't mean that all athletes are like that. Sure there are athletes who are partying, sleeping around, and gambling but there are also athletes who don't participate in those activities.
It would be completely ridiculous to not let your children play sports because of the way these athletes are living their lives. It's fine if our (future) children want to play sports, but we should teach our children there is more to life than sports.
It's really sad to know that some of our favorite players have such fatal flaws but I don't think that takes away from the game that we all enjoy. I am a Laker fan and I always get flack from others about how Kobe Bryant is a rapist, how can I possibly be a fan of a rapist. My only response: I am a fan of his playing not his lifestyle.
I think it isn't necessary for us to shield our children from looking up to athletes or from playing sports. It is just important that we teach them that excelling at a sport does not have to include living the lifestyle some athletes choose to live.
BYU athletes are a great example of how to live a LDS lifestyle and still be able to play the games they love. Lifestyle is a choice and it just depends on the person whether or not the choices are right or wrong.
I have come to find that nobody is perfect. Once you really get to know someone you find out that they aren't everything that you thought they were. Even fantastic members of the church who seem to have it all together still have their own problems they struggle with. The problems might not be as extreme as the ones mentioned but they are still problems. They are also not made anywhere near as public as the ones of famous sports stars so they often go undetected by even the people closest to them.
So when it comes to teaching our children, first I would say teach them to not judge. It is not the mistakes that someone makes that defines who they are.
Obviously however we should also teach children what kinds of things are acceptable in life. If you give your children a good moral foundation and teach them right from wrong I think they will surprise you with their ability to discern who should be a role model and for what specific reasons. You can teach your children to admire sports stars hard work and talent at the same time that you teach them that some of the life choices made by those same people are incorrect.
Children will always have someone they will look up to whether they be athletes, singers, and/or actors. In the LDS culture I believe we try to shield children to the world with the mentality that if they don't see it they will be fine. It's all about educating children that every choice they make have consequences. Education starts in the home.
The truth is that in any career people would have flaws and backgrounds similar to the sports stars you mentioned.However, because they are famous and known by many people, news about them would attract more attention and generate more money. To my kids I will teach what is right and eventually hope they make the right decisions. Is not what you do professionally that would define your actions, it is who you are and the decisions you make.
I think this is an extremely interesting point, and admittedly, one I have not thought of before. I think it is hard to have our children playing athletics when you see so many of its super stars leading lives we don't want our kids leading. However, I don't necessarily feel like that correlation can be made in that we can't let our kids play these sports because we are afraid they will lead the same lives. If that were the case, we would not be able to let them go to school, drive, or simply leave the house. I do think that as parents, we will need to be very active in our kids lives as they grow up when it comes to observing who they admire and look up to. While a lot of the super stars have lead troubling lives, there are still a great many out there who can be good, uplifting role models to our kids. Look at the Manning brothers, Tim Tebow, Lebron James, etc. But this is where as parents we have to help our kids pick the good role models. And if that back fires (in that some scandal happens) as parents it is our duty to sit down with our kids and explain to them that a bad decision was made.
You look at the amount of attention that players like Jimmer, Tebow, Jabari Parker, and even Collin Klein out of Kansas State and it's easy to notice how different sports are nowadays. Those players get so much attention because of their high standards. When compared to a majority of sports figures, the players I listed are practically saints (watch First Take on ESPN. Skip Bayless worships Tim Tebow).
I agree with your argument. It's hard to "look up" to athletes nowadays. Sports has become more and more pure entertainment and less and less an example for the youth. Parents are limited to just a handful of athletes they can tell their kids to "try and be like".
I am not sure! I want my kids to enjoy basketball and sports teams and be involved in sports themselves. I think that in the right environment, sports can be very constructive and keep kids out of trouble by being part of a team and keeping them busy rather than having them trying to figure out what to do after school. As far as idolizing sports players, I would just monitor it and make sure it doesn't get too extreme, and explain to my child that though they are very talented on the court/field, their personal life is not one to admire. And we need to remember that the gospel comes first, even before sports.
I see nothing wrong with letting kids look up to a spots figure. The world is a scary place and just about everyone you look up to as a child turns out to not be quite as good as you think they should be. Sports figures are not all bad, some of them are really ethical and good by even church standards and can be great role models. I think we should teach our kids right and wrong and allow them to then choose who they look up to and what activities they want to participate in.
I too looked up to Jordan. He was the greatest ever at what he did. Why wouldn't we revere that. My brother, never was into sports, and his hero was Warren Buffett, he met him and got to spend 1 hour with him. He got to see his hero in order to be as consistently successful at business as he has been, is a pretty good guy, of course he has character flaws but not as many as you see in the fast paced sports arena.
The hard part is, no matter what the child becomes involved in, they will be affected by the youth around them who do that activity. I didn't know Jordan's character, and didn't understand he gambled until later in life. But the youth I played sports with, also received popularity, and popularity often times corrupts.
So I guess I could convince my child not to do anything in the world, but he would be a recluse. Instead the only way to overcome, is to make sure they understand and are converted for themselves to live the gospel, eventually they will come into contact with the world, if they are good at school (in college) or if they are good at music (look at most great musicians) or sports (it just might come at a younger age.
I have the exact same feeling about basketball, Jordan, and just sports in general. Having played almost every sport there is up to this point in my life and influence each sport has had on the way I live my life I will no doubt put my kids into sports and with that I will be okay with them having hero's from those sports.
I believe in there being 2 kinds of hero's in our lives, spiritual hero's and temporal hero's. I have always seen Jordan, Chipper Jones, Steve Young, Jerry Rice, Kevin Durant and others as hero's however the difference between them and say Christ is that I don't try and emulate the way they live their lives, just the way they play their sport. This is what i would hope to be able to teach my children and hope that they would be able to see that difference.
Interesting question...I think as a younger child, though, you weren't focused on those kinds of things. He was your role model on the court. Regardless of the things he does off of it, you knew as a little boy that he was a machine when it was game time. As you grew older, you learned of the immense flaws, but in that aspect, he was still great. The fact that Kobe will shoot 2000 free throws? That's inspiration. That's something to look up to.
But even better? There are good upstanding citizens who are all star athletes as well! Albert pujols? Doesn't drink or smoke. Loves his wife. MLB MVP. Durrant? Always giving back, lives the sport. Great guy. They are there, and we can teach our kids to emulate and love the good qualities that the athlete has. For sureZ
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