The Smith case raises the issue yet again.
Arguments on tins issue will probably rage on forever. On the one hand there is no reason to suppose that because someone is good at sport they are equipped to be a role model, and on the other hand they tend to be looked up to as role models whether we like it or not – particularly by young people. There is no doubt that some sports people make exemplary role models – the archetypical example being Richie McCaw and people like Val Adams.
The issue has been brought into focus again by the unfortunate antics of Aaron Smith and the even more unfortunate reaction – what were they thinking?? – of the onlookers who recorded the incident.
Now where sports people are part of a structured environment whether it is netball, rowing, rugby etc. I think there is a responsibility on the structure to ensure that their sports people understand the role model issue and penalties are applied when they break the rules, or behave in a clearly inappropriate fashion. The Rugby Union did that quickly in the case of Smith but was very lax in dealing with the issue of the Chiefs and the stripper a week or so earlier. Rugby league on the other hand seems to be a serial disaster. Doing this is not just morally appropriate, it is part of establishing and protecting a good organisational reputation.
The reality I think is that many young sports people are not well equipped to be role models and many or even most never will. That is particularly true of sports involving young men who indulge in spectacular (but legal) violence every week. If sports people choose to be role models or are good role models by instinct as it were then that’s great. Parents who are concerned should focus their kids’ attention accordingly.
For the rest, I think it is the rest of us who have to be realistic and responsible. Children need to understand as soon as they are able that being good at sport does not a good role model make. Sports people make mistakes or are poorly advised just like many of the rest of us, or are just plain bad role models – it is just that their misdemeanours tend to be more highly visible and often publicised. The media play a part in this too by choosing what to publicise – piously they claim in the public interest but I suspect it is more in the interest of sales and attracting viewers/readers. Young people need to be trained to recognise both god and bad behaviours, and to put the focus on the behaviour not the person – whether the person is a sports star or the kid living next door.
It is certainly noisy good enough for parents particularly to laugh bad behaviours off as just hijinks by young sports people or similar.
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This is another of Bas Walker’s posts on GrownUps. Please look out for his articles, containing his Beachside Ponderings.