Should celebrity athletes/entertainers be role models? Yes. They are whether they want to be or not

For professional athletes, whether we like it or not, there is always someone, some child or other person, who admires us for what we do and what we say. We have a way of impacting lives. It's fortunate and it's unfortunate, because a parent can tell a child to do something and it might fall on deaf ears. But I (or another athlete or entertainer) can say the same thing and it registers. I don't know why it's like that. But because of that, I take being a role model very seriously and responsibly.

The reason I feel so strongly about this is because I try not to live a double life. The way I am in private is how I am in public. I keep what I have done athletically in perspective and I don't lose sight of the fact that, as a human being, I am no better than anyone else. I am just trying to be a good person. I was blessed with the opportunity to be an athlete. When I talk to kids, I say, learn about Jackie Joyner-Kersee the person, not just how many records I've set or gold medals I've won, because those are material things that can be taken away at any time. But my heart and soul, and what I stand for, will stay with me for the rest of my life. So in everything I do or say, I am very aware that I may impact a life.

As for being a role model, I was always taught to be a young lady first and to be respectful. It just happened that I excelled athletically and that garnered a lot more attention. But to me, I am still Jackie. I can walk into the community and there are certain people I will hang out with and certain ones I won't hang out with. That would be the same even if I were not an Olympian.

I do, however, think that a lot more responsibility comes along with celebrity today than in the past because there weren't as many media outlets as there are today. It seems that the more successful you become today, the media are more focused on finding something wrong about you rather than highlighting the good things. Even in sports, it seems the more outrageous you are, the more attention you will get. If you do things by the book, the reaction is that he or she doesn't have much personality or charisma. But I don't want to be at the dinner table with a person just because they can sell more magazines. To me, that does not make them role models.

In fact, many of the people who get that kind of media attention are not role models at all, according to the dictionary definition. They are not people whose behavior should be imitated by others. What parent would want their child to look up to or emulate the star athlete who gets arrested for drunken driving, or the entertainer who is in and out of rehab, no matter how good they are in their professional roles?

I believe who and what I am today is the result of the way my parents raised me. But no one is going to write about what great role models my parents were. Still, they will always be role models in my eyes. When I was growing up, I also admired people like track legend Wilma Rudolph, Dr. King and basketball's Dr. J. These were people I could admire because they had the character and determination to reach for their goals in spite of obstacles. I wanted to have the type of strength displayed by Olympic champion Wilma Rudolph, who overcame polio to excel against great odds. That's how I looked at people I truly admired--people who overcame adversity.

Today, I understand when someone like Charles Barkley says he is not a role model. However, there is someone out there who Charles Barkley has given hope to just by being who he is. We as celebrity athletes are in these positions, so why not be a positive voice for people who don't have a voice? Why not reinforce what parents may be struggling to teach their children? Whenever I go into schools, I always say, "Sports are good, but get an education."

With fallen role models like Michael Vick, I believe everybody should have a second chance. But before you worry about your public image, you first have to be honest about who you are out of the limelight. Then you can share that with the rest of the world, so you are not living a double life. Kids don't always understand any difference between a hero's public and private life.

It was a terrible thing for Vick to be linked to dogfighting, but now the healing takes place, and first it's about healing yourself. That's

what being a role model is all about. Ensuring that the person the public looks up to is also the same person in private.

Jackie Joyner-Kersee is a three-time Olympic gold medallist, who excelled in the heptathlon and long jump. She is considered by many observers to be the greatest female athlete in history.

COPYRIGHT 2007 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning