Michael Phelps could have made me $1 Millon

Batutta said:
His point, to me, was that kids shouldn't look to people like Michael Phelps as role models, but sometimes, those are the only role models kids have.
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The point I focused on (and quoted) was that parents are KEY in their child's development. That goes for good and bad parents. Good and bad role models.

Clear?

EDIT: There's no better role model than a good parent.
 
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Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
The point I focused on (and quoted) was that parents are KEY in their child's development. That goes for good and bad parents. Good and bad role models.

Clear?
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We're talking about two different things I suppose. I was just saying you can't always assume kids are going to have two parents worthy of being role models. There is the ideal, and then there is reality, and they aren't always in agreement.
 
The reason people looked up to Michael Phelps had to do with his athletic feats during the olympics and that he won a ton of medals.

Michael Phelps could have been a saint and won zero medals, and he certainly wouldn't be in the public eye or a "role model".

Let's not confuse why Michael Phelps is a role model or famous.
 
Batutta said:
His point, to me, was that kids shouldn't look to people like Michael Phelps as role models, but sometimes, those are the only role models kids have.
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That's fine as a last resort if you don't have a good role model in your life.

When I quoted this...
You know who are good role models? Parents.
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I was assuming that we were talking about good parents. Not pedophiles and such. :thumbup:
 
Parents are the penultimate role models. For better or for worse.

Is a parent a bad role model if they took a bong hit when they were 23? Depends what your standards are, I guess. Which is where the problem arises in picking a famous person to be a role model, since everyones standards are different there is no way in hell that you can be perfect anyway.

For me, I could give a rat's. For others, he has let them down. There is no way to win unless you make the object of your life to please everyone else....including millions of people you don't know.

With parents, it is their duty to help guide their children. Michael Phelps has not agreed to this duty
as far as I know. Maybe I missed the announcement, though.
 
I guess I don't see how smoking pot makes you a bad role model...I mean, I guess if you sat around all day and smoked pot, but he's a long way from a slacker...
 
Mark Harris said:
I guess I don't see how smoking pot makes you a bad role model...I mean, I guess if you sat around all day and smoked pot, but he's a long way from a slacker...
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Agreed. I'm not knocking him at all. Just the role model tag he has been given.

Parents should be role models for their children. Not strangers.
 
A huge reason for this celebrity/athlete role model phenomena in the U.S. has to do with the fact that kids usually spend more time in front of media than they do with their parents. Parents abuse it as a tool to help them raise their children.

Children in the US spend, on average, 5 1/2 hours in front of TV and computer screens everyday.

(Which also contributes to obesity and ADD.)

If anybody should be targeted for not being good role models for children, it is parents.
 
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Everyone smokes weed at least some point in their life. If i meet someone who feels very strongly against marijuana, chances are I don't like them and that their an uptight kooz. I'm not trying to come across as a druggie or anything, but phelps is 23 years old and he's won 14 gold medals. Who cares if he smokes some weed? What were you doing when you were 23?
 
Jim Klatt said:
If anybody should be targeted for not being good role models for children, it is parents.
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Exactly. The fact that they can be the worst role model for their children also means they can be the best. It obviously depends on the parent.

They are the most important figures in their child's life. Good or bad.

I wonder if that figure you quoted will shift to computers. Most kids I know in their teens don't sit in front of the TV anymore. The PC has taken over their lives.
 
yommytacoe said:
Everyone smokes weed at least some point in their life. If i meet someone who feels very strongly against marijuana, chances are I don't like them and that their an uptight kooz. I'm not trying to come across as a druggie or anything, but phelps is 23 years old and he's won 14 gold medals. Who cares if he smokes some weed? What were you doing when you were 23?
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This is a generalization. I happen to know a few people who have never smoked so much as a cigarette, it's true. They don't drink either.

I would say that for the most part you are correct, just not everyone.
 
Jim Klatt said:
Children in the US spend, on average, 5 1/2 hours in front of TV and computer screens everyday.
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Yep, that's because half of them are smoking weed, playing nintendo and surfing porn.

I totally agree about the parents being role models providing they are not smoking weed and in jail. Doubt my parents ever smoked weed (they rarely ever drink) but you never know, I herd a lot of that went on in the 60's.

Anyone have any idea's for a Doritos commercial? It's to late to win the $ but I might shoot one for fun and send it to Dorito's anyway.

:Drogar-Smoke(DBG):
 
What?!?! Everybody doesn't smoke weed and if you think his actions are no big deal, and would make a funny commercial (or SNL skit), then IMO you're wishing we lived in a world that doesn't exist right now.

His actions matter. Your actions matter. We all matter and we should all care about how our actions effect other people, locally and globally.

It's easy to say "Oh let him relax once and a while" or "smoking pot is the lesser of two evils". But that kind of apathy and that kind of "if it doesn't effect me then it doesn't matter" attitude hurts us all. Society is becoming more cynical and more self-centered. And now we've stopped being accountable for our actions and adopted a much easier "no big deal" and "f**k you" attitude. That lack of accountability already infected the corporate world. Now it's infecting our society.

Yes! Parents should be the best role model. They SHOULD. And in a perfect world Phelp's actions would go unnoticed (and not influence others). It wouldn't make the news and it wouldn't be worthy of this topic and this post! But unfortunately we don't live in THAT world. We live in a world that is filled with parents who are not good role models and a world that puts the wrong people on pedestals. I wish it wasn't that way but, unfortunately, we must deal with THAT reality.

I'm sure you've seen how badly some parents raise their kids. They just place a tv in front of their kids and then go do what they want. You know it happens and it's very easy to not concern ourselves with bad parents, but we MUST. We're all connected and whether we like it or not we ARE a community that relies on others (unless you live in a cave and living off the land). We are a community that has a lot of bad role models and a community that puts the WRONG people on pedestals.

Some people scream when they see a celebrity. I don't. And I'm sure you don't either. But I'm not concerned about you and I. I'm concerned about those who DO scream and those who DO put athletes and celebrities on pedestals (they are the ones who are easily influenced and should be a HUGE concern). Including "some" of the media who exploit people for their own financial gain. They are the ones who make Paris Hilton a house-hold name, while good parents and good teachers struggle to make a positive impact in a child's life.

Parents are having to struggle more and more, every single day, to keep negative influences out of reach from their children. So if this "who cares" attitude infects us any more then the future is going to be a sad place to be.

And if you think weed is a victimless crime, I know a lot of families and children who would disagree. ALL of our actions effect other people. You might not see the effect it has or you might not care. But it does. Whether we like it or not we're all connected and ALL of our actions effect other people. Act accordingly.

[/rant]
 
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PK Gillock said:
And if you think weed is a victimless crime, I know a lot of families and children who would disagree.

[/rant]
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My understanding was he was in a country that it was not a crime to smoke weed when the photo was shot. No, it doesn't make it right but it can't be called a crime.

I enjoyed your rant btw :) and agree with most of it. We are human and make mistakes, even people who are idols to others.
 
ChipG said:
My understanding was he was in a country that it was not a crime to smoke weed when the photo was shot. No, it doesn't make it right but it can't be called a crime.
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Actually, it is a crime.

Doug Strickland, the head of the Richland County Public Defender's office, told Huffington Post that in his 21 years as a public defender, he could not recall a case where someone was criminally charged with drug possession based on photographic evidence and an admission of non-specific wrongdoing.

"I cannot think of an instance where it's happened," said Strickland, pointing out that Phelps has not even confessed to possessing marijuana, simply acknowledging "regrettable" behavior and "bad judgment."

"You have to prove that he possessed it and a photograph is not enough - If you wanted to press the issue, he could go out and locate who was there and squeeze them. That's a lot of effort for a misdemeanor that carries a fine of 30 days in jail or $500."
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Just keeping the facts straight. :thumbup:
 
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