Some People Believe That Professional Athletes Serve As Positive Role Models For Young People

Sample essay

According to some people sportspersons make excellent role models for youngsters. Others, however, insist that oftentimes these persons demonstrate behavior that has a negative influence on their fans especially juveniles. Both views will be discussed in this essay. Personally I believe that very few athletes have traits that make them role models for the society.

Sportsmen and women enjoy tremendous popularity all over the world. Their followers emulate everything that they do. It is true that we can learn a lot from them. Professional sport is a super competitive arena. In order to succeed there a player has to demonstrate extraordinary levels of determination, courage and perseverance. These are traits that young people need to copy.

Still, sportspersons do not make great role models. Many of them actually engage in practices that young people should never emulate. It is not uncommon for some sportspersons to take performance enhancing drugs. Some of them drink and smoke a lot. They also party a lot. Professional sportspersons earn a lot of money and tend to live a life of glitz and glamour. Their fans may want to follow the same lifestyle but very few can actually do it. Some of these men are also notorious for constantly being in and out of relationships. They often show disdain for traditional concepts of family and live as they wish. Again, youngsters should not imitate this behaviour. In most cases, the glamorous lives that these people lead hide the pain they endured to become what they are today. A teenager who sees a footballer, a boxer or a cricketer as role model often do not see the battles that these people had to fight to become victorious. They only see the glamour, the fame and the money.

To conclude, just like other people, sportspersons have their flaws. Just because they are successful in a particular sport, it does not mean that they make good roles for young people.  A few certainly do, but the vast majority does not.

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