Raise your kids

For those who watch NBA (National Basketball Association) in the 80s and 90s period, you would most likely know Charles Barkley. Charles Barkley is one of the most dominating power forwards in American basketball and also a colourful character on and off the court, which makes him the subject of controversies.

One such controversy was Barkley had argued that athletes should not be considered role models, "A million guys can dunk a basketball in jail; should they be role models?" In 1993, his argument prompted national news when he wrote the text for his "I am not a role model" Nike commercial (See below). Dan Quayle, the former Vice President of the United States, called it a "family-values message" for Barkley's oft-ignored call for parents and teachers to quit looking to him to "raise your kids" and instead be role models themselves.



That message sparked a great public debate about the nature of role models. Barkley supports his argument, "I think the media demands that athletes be role models because there's some jealousy involved. It's as if they say, this is a young black kid playing a game for a living and making all this money, so we're going to make it tough on him. And what they're really doing is telling kids to look up to someone they can't become, because not many people can be like we are. Kids can't be like Michael Jordan."

Be the role model of your own kids and don't expect to pass the responsibility of being a parent to others.