The whole thing about Michael Phelps and role models got me thinking. Why is it you Americans depend so greatly on role models? Look. If your kid requires a role model and it’s not you, you’re both screwed.
The Jug
First off let me say you are coming off as an antagonist, and not so much an interested person with a legitimate question. “…you Americans…” that’s a bit condescending.
I think you are asking the wrong question. If the Phelps incident prompted this interest in role models, I think the question is, “what makes us need role models that are cleaner than god.” I’m saying we should be more tolerant of our public figures and allow them to humanize themselves. While people insist that these role models hold themselves to higher standards, I say we should lower the bar just a bit. I feel like it could help the kids out there who set unrealistic goals for themselves only because the people they idolize are seemingly perfect. You can strive for perfect i suppose, but no one ever achieves it. I see myself as a realist, so why not just let everyone know right from the get go that these people, these role models, are not perfect themselves. Then when trivial things like this happens, no one is disappointed.
Also, I think its healthy for children to have role models outside of their family. It gives children an outside source, a way to escape the monotony of daily life at home. Parents are great role models dont get me wrong. But youre children are not screwed if you are not the model they attempt to sculpt themselves around at a young age.
First off let me say you are coming off as an antagonist, and not so much an interested person with a legitimate question. “…you Americans…” that’s a bit condescending.
I think you are asking the wrong question. If the Phelps incident prompted this interest in role models, I think the question is, “what makes us need role models that are cleaner than god.” I’m saying we should be more tolerant of our public figures and allow them to humanize themselves. While people insist that these role models hold themselves to higher standards, I say we should lower the bar just a bit. I feel like it could help the kids out there who set unrealistic goals for themselves only because the people they idolize are seemingly perfect. You can strive for perfect i suppose, but no one ever achieves it. I see myself as a realist, so why not just let everyone know right from the get go that these people, these role models, are not perfect themselves. Then when trivial things like this happens, no one is disappointed.
Also, I think its healthy for children to have role models outside of their family. It gives children an outside source, a way to escape the monotony of daily life at home. Parents are great role models dont get me wrong. But youre children are not screwed if you are not the model they attempt to sculpt themselves around at a young age.
Take a look at his other posts. All 8 of them. They are all pedantic and somewhat antagonistic, and the role model comment is evidently important enough to him that he’s repeated it almost verbatim a couple of times.
John
In Reply ToFirst off let me say you are coming off as an antagonist, and not so much an interested person with a legitimate question. “…you Americans…” that’s a bit condescending.
I think you are asking the wrong question. If the Phelps incident prompted this interest in role models, I think the question is, “what makes us need role models that are cleaner than god.” I’m saying we should be more tolerant of our public figures and allow them to humanize themselves. While people insist that these role models hold themselves to higher standards, I say we should lower the bar just a bit. I feel like it could help the kids out there who set unrealistic goals for themselves only because the people they idolize are seemingly perfect. You can strive for perfect i suppose, but no one ever achieves it. I see myself as a realist, so why not just let everyone know right from the get go that these people, these role models, are not perfect themselves. Then when trivial things like this happens, no one is disappointed.
Also, I think its healthy for children to have role models outside of their family. It gives children an outside source, a way to escape the monotony of daily life at home. Parents are great role models dont get me wrong. But youre children are not screwed if you are not the model they attempt to sculpt themselves around at a young age.
Take a look at his other posts. All 8 of them. They are all pedantic and somewhat antagonistic, and the role model comment is evidently important enough to him that he’s repeated it almost verbatim a couple of times.
John
Yes, all 8 of them. We all have to start somewhere, Devlin. And unlike you, it wasn’t my intent to sound antagonistic or condescending, though I will say, however, it’s this very manner in which the US portrays itself upon the world stage. “We’re number one!” is an embarrassment to humanity and terribly condescending, as are terms like “third world country” (I live in one such country, but yet in the same world as you) or even “foreigner”. Foreign to whom? Americans are also foreigners, more so now than ever, in fact. Again, though, I am honestly not trying to antagonize.
Back to my main point. I understand and agree that there can be other role models than we as parents; it was certainly this way for me as a youngster. It just seems from the “outside” (I’m here in the States now, however) that this phrase, “role model” is used so much. It’s a term you don’t hear much outside of the US. A question an “outsider” might pose: Are your children better off by having role models? And what if those role models fail?
Back to my main point. I understand and agree that there can be other role models than we as parents; it was certainly this way for me as a youngster. It just seems from the “outside” (I’m here in the States now, however) that this phrase, “role model” is used so much. It’s a term you don’t hear much outside of the US. A question an “outsider” might pose: Are your children better off by having role models? And what if those role models fail?
Agreed. There is a saying from somewhere along the lines of “It takes a village to raise a child”. I teach martial arts part time, and our school is very close to a lower income section of town. One of our instructors lives there, in a section that is Hispanic in nature. I went to a block party, and I was struck by how tight the community was with each other, and when children misbehaved, it wasn’t ignored “for the parents to deal with”, the nearest adult stepped in.
Role models are all well and good, I admired Davis Phinney greatly growing up. My parents stopped me from drafting semi’s on my bike down the passes in Colorado like he used to, though. 
Role models are like everything in life. Best used in moderation.
John