Role Models

[kvnchrist]

Why is it, that so many in our society look to those people we have so little in common with as those to be role models for our youth. These people who make movies, or have made careers in sports or entertainment or politics. Most of these people have nothing in common with us as individuals. They seem to think they have the wisdom to tell us how to dress, what to eat and what to think, but they have, for the most part, left our world of living and struggling to make ends meet. They are on an entirely different playing field, with rules and guidelines all their own.

 

What they can do and get away with, would most likely end us in jail, and who's to say if they have any clue to what we have to go through to keep our heads above water. Is it a case of class envy that we place these people in such a glittered light. Does the fac6t that these people have more money and influence, somehow make them immune from the same headaches and problems that we have to endure, or is it that they are in the spotlight more than we, and we crave the glitter and glamor of the foot lights.

 

Why should we not try to be the best we can be and become a role model ourselves. We are the ones that our children see the most of. Why should we idolize those who we know so little about and concentrate on making us more appealing to the youth around us. It is always OK to dream, but when dreams become an obsession, then reality suffers and we find ourselves unprepared for what is directly ahead of us, and we fail at being the most important person to ourselves and those around us. That is the person we are. I ask you. What is wrong with who we are that we look elsewhere for being a goal for success.

[HeyYou]

concentrate on making us more appalling to the youth around us

 

Is that what you really meant to type??

 

They are rich, and, it appears that anyone that is not rich, wants to be. Those folks have their own sets of issues, that those of us that DON'T have large piles of cash, don't know about. Granted, I would trade those problems for mine any day of the week. These guys try to present themselves as "clean cut american boys/gals", but, far too many of them fall WAY short of the goal. Performance enhancing drugs, alcohol problems, various flavors of criminal behavior, etc. Too many of them are just prima donna's. I have no use for any of them. I would FAR rather have my kids/grandkids turn out like ME, than say, Micheal Vick, or any of a number of others that have climbed so far, only to fall from grace. It annoys me that they seldom get any meaningful prison time for it either, but, that is just a product of our 'justice' system, and is another topic altogether.

[draconix]

I think the problem you are describing is the fact that people mean role-models two different ways.

The first role model is the traditional sense of what kind of person you want the child to become, what kind of morality they hold, etc.

The second role model is the newer, lifestyle-based model, which most people choose for themselves, like "I want to live in a mansion and be famous,"

 

As for the why, who knows...