IMP Flashcards
Slide 1
Hi my name is Maisha and today I will be talking about professional athletes’ positive impact on adolescents’ decision making.
slide 2
Athletes’ behavior is closely monitored both on and off the playing field. Not just by coaches and organizations, but also by fans and followers.
Kids, specifically, love to imitate what they see or hear from their favorite athletes
They may copy anything such as drinking their favorite basketball players’ Gatorade flavor or even supporting the same cultural movements as their favorite team.
slide 3
Athletes wield significant power since they have a widespread influence on their followers..
it is also known that athletes are not perfect and have been involved in scandals..
So do professional athletes being perceived as role models present a negative impact on adolescents’ decision-making? Not necessarily.
They may have an overall positive impact on decision-making because a strong support system growing up can lead adolescents to conform only to positive behaviors
slide 4
If youth are influenced by their role models, what will they do to be like them?
It can be inferred, in the book “The Namesake” via the main character, Gogol, that kids are willing to change their identity or be something they are not, to fit in.
In Chapter 5, after discovering that some famous Americans changed their names and because Gogol didn’t like his own name, he is inspired to change it, officially, to Nikhil. ”
Gogol, however,[pause] is just one of many youths across the world who aspire to be someone they are not.
slide 5
When kids are introduced to a super athlete who has championship success and is rich due to their strict routine what are they to think?[hand gesture]
Proponents of athletic role models argue that these characteristics of athletes, can spark youth interest in fitness and lead them to alter their regimen and lifestyles so they can “be like” their favorite player in a positive manner.
For example, the Kaiser Family Foundation indicates that more than one in two kids (54%) say they have been encouraged to work harder at their own sport due to athletes’ influence.
However, there are also dangers to following someone like this.
Tom Brady can be an example of that danger.
He was accused of cheating in the Super Bowl by deflating footballs . Student-athlete Keaton Dadigan, at Foothill Technology High School, raised his concerns about the influence these athletes have on him and his peers.
As a result of the Brady accusations, Dadigan stated “the fact of the matter is that kids all over the country now think that the only reason why Brady is so good is that he cheats”(Dadigan). Now, kids may associate success with cheating, which is a problem.
slide 6
As terrible as cheating is, it is also important to note that most athletes have a variety of influences: both negative and positive
For example, [change in pitch]Brady still can be a positive model as his determination and solid work ethic are fundamentals that display the idea of hard work leading to success.
In addition, there are other successful professional athletes who pursue their love for that sport, work hard to provide for their family, and participate in charity work for the community.
Consider Lebron James, who has been in the NBA since 18, praised for his obsolete crime rate, and his participation in movements and social media activism.
He is an example of how youth can be positively impacted by learning the importance of activism and refraining from legal trouble.
slide 7
Not only can these stellar athletes shift children’s morals on and off the court, but they can also change how they view themselves.
As mentioned before, Gogol let celebrities like Leon Trotsky and General Ford cause him to change his name to Nikil (Namesake).
This displays the impact role models can have on adolescents – Gogol changing his name could be perceived as peer pressure or just him finding a way to finally identify himself. Therefore confirming one’s role models isn’t necessarily negative.
slide 8
However, most parents do not want their kids to always follow their favorite athlete. [pause]
In the Namesake, we see how Gogol’s parents question his decision to change his name.
But, influencers like athletes can have a positive impact.
Is it the parents’ job to constantly monitor who their kids follow? Or just teach their kids not to always copy the decisions that their hero makes?
slide 9
The research of Kathy T. Do, Ethan M. McCormick, and Eva H Telzer from the department of psychology and neuroscience at UNC-Chapel Hillis is essential to answer that question.
They conclude through their study that “When parents and peers endorse relatively more positive attitudes than the adolescents’ original attitudes (i.e positive influence), adolescents are more likely to conform by adopting the opposing attitudes of others”(Do et al).
[change in pitch] This is not to say that parents encouraging their children to avoid role models is a problem, but rather this generalization of famous athletes being a problem and parents trying to solve it by preventing their kids from following them could lead their children to conform to that athlete’s negative influence even more.
Therefore, the importance of an effective, yet knowledgeable parental system is essential in the influence of others on one’s child.
So how does one ensure athletes are positive spokespeople on numerous social, political, and global issues, well [pause] Parents come first in line.
slide 10
In order to address the concerns of parents’ problems with athletes’ behavior on and off the court, professional organizations have implemented “codes of conduct” and financial incentives for their players to keep their actions in check.
In the NBA code of conduct, for example, players are required to attend “business of basketball” programs or they will be fined. t
However, [pause]this is not always effective enough.
At the end of the day, these players may continue to make terrible decisions on and off the court which is why the solution should also have a focus on the children and not just the players.
slide 11
A method commonly used by parents to prevent kids from following the lives of athletes is to restrict or entirely eliminate children’s social media use.
The problem is word spreads. [pause] Just because one’s child doesn’t hear about the arrest of a certain athlete on their own device, does not mean they will not hear about it at school, practice, or anywhere else.
Even if restricting social media does prevent this student entirely from being influenced by these athletes, the research of Do, McCormick, and Telzer claims that ultimately, “adolescents are overall more likely to resist than conform when either parents or peers endorsed attitudes that conflicted with adolescent’s personal attitudes”(Do et al).
In other words,[pause] parents presenting conflicting attitudes with their kids by restricting social media will cause them to rebel and not conform to the possible positive influence of the parents.
slide 12
Instead, parents should consider supporting media literacy.
With media literacy, parents are not overly restricting their kids’ social media use, making it opportune for the least amount of conflicting attitudes with their child. Parents instead educate their kids on what they see on social media and how that influences their choices in life.[longer pause][change in pitch]
A limitation media literacy presents is that it focuses more on understanding the intent for messages created on the media platform, which may not necessarily align with the message the athletes themselves are trying to send.
Media literacy assists adolescents with understanding what they are presented and to therefore hopefully make better choices and not fall to the negative influence of their role models.
slide 13
Overall, professional athletes being perceived as role models tends to present a positive impact on adolescents’ decision-making.
Yes, [pause, look at audience] there will always be athletes with a negative influence on kids, but if youth are raised in an environment with a positive influence from parents, those negative influences from athletes could just teach the youth what not to do and the youth might only allow their actions to be reflected by those positive athletic role models.
