RETHINKING ROLE MODELS

Since the terrorist attacks on New York City back in 2001, we have been hearing the word “hero” entirely too often. But what does “hero” really mean to young people, and has that meaning changed recently? Is a hero a rap star, an NBA player, a cartoon character? Is a hero a big name celebrity like Britney Spears, or is it someone who is closer to home, like an uncle or other relative? Do heroes have to wear costumes or uniforms, like they do in cartoons?

Psychologist Dafna Ronen says that mainstream movies, from Ace Ventura to James Bond to cartoons, contain violence in one form or another. Whether the violence is presented in the form of gruesome murders or comedic jokes where people are suppose to laugh at another person’s injuries it is all still violence. And it is unreasonable to believe that every single movie or television show that contains an ounce of violence was created out of “real life experience.” Much of it is a commercial ploy to attract mainstream audiences to view new movies. Violence sells. That’s reality.

She contends that while no one forces people to go out and murder others or rob banks, after viewing this type of behaviour on the big screen, such material often does influence civilians’ actions. Granted, when adults mimic movie stars it is quite different from when children imitate them. There are claims that the media (eg tv, movies) is only depicting real life by portraying violence on the screen, and that no one is forced to imitate what they observe. But how is a child, an adolescent or even a teenager, supposed to know when a movie is making some kind of moral or political statement or critiquing the behaviour it depicts?

The answer is, a child will not know the difference.

She believes that he will think such behaviour is acceptable and grow up believing so, unless someone else whom he respects teaches him otherwise. Hopefully, such a child has parents or guardians to explain the differences between violence and moral behaviour. But if a child lacks these (which many children in today’s society do), he is going to assume that the behaviour portrayed on the big screen is acceptable because his idols or role models are acting that way, or because it makes the characters look cool and tough.

When people become immune to such behaviour we should start asking ourselves the question: what does my child think when he sees people shoot each other or watches a cartoon character laugh when another is set on fire? No one forced a five-year-old boy to set his younger sister on fire after watching the cartoon character Bart Simpson do it on television. He simply imitated what he saw.

In the Asian courtesy campaign posters of the 1980s, the use of human characters as role models to convey the courtesy message was predominant. There was a link between the choice of the communicators and their attractiveness and likeability. As a result, they played a pivotal role in persuading people to be courteous. Having a friendly disposition and a celebrity status usually made a person more persuasive.

However, by mid-1990s, the feedback from a survey done by the Singapore Government showed that the use of artistes as role models for courtesy campaigns was inappropriate. The basis for this argument lay in the fact that artistes or celebrities are fallible human beings, and may be prone to socially undesirable behaviour. Given the fact that they are salient figures, their objectionable acts would be heavily publicised as well as criticised by the media, leaving a lasting bad impression. This adverse publicity for the ‘role model’ would not help in promoting the courtesy campaign. The misbehaviour of prominent people will have an even greater impact on children, who look up to them as their idol or role model.

Since attitude formation occurs at an early life stage, this disillusionment can cause the children to have a negative image of courtesy. With feedback from the public over the years, there has been a shift from the use of human figures to cartoon characters, the most notable example being the courtesy mascot, Singa. Such fictional figures would obviously not have to be overly concerned with impression management and are perfect as ‘role models.’ The Singaporeans also believe that cartoons are more appropriate for children and can easily attract their attention, with the added advantage of them being easily understood.

Lack of proper role models also sees girls having a quite negative self image. The Kaiser Family Foundation and Children Now released a “Reflections of Girls in the Media” report which looked at television shows, commercials, music videos, movies, teen magazines and print ads aimed at girls, and included a telephone survey of 1,200 boys and girls ages 10 to 17. What it found wasn’t anything new, really.

The various media still focus too much on women’s and girls’ looks. Teen magazines, in particular, give more space to dating and appearance than to school or career-related articles. And women in movies and on television spend most of their time talking about romance, while the men talk more about work.

Not exactly a revelation.

The survey also asked the kids to name the traits they most associate with female and male characters. While the researchers noted that both boys and girls connected women characters with whining, weakness and worrying about weight gain, and that’s definitely not a good thing, I found it even more disconcerting that one of the traits the children noted most often in male TV characters was their desire to have sex. Obviously, there are problems for both genders. The study’s findings that females are being misrepresented and underrepresented in the media are probably accurate. And it’s a shame that girls are still getting the message that they’ll be happy only if they’re thin, pretty and dating.

But I’m not sure boys are getting a better set of values from the images they see most, self-centred athletes, angry rap stars and sex-crazed college boys.

Schools across Australia recently began recruiting fathers and other men from the community to play sports, work in the canteen and help out in the classroom because they see the need for boys to have positive male role models. Male role models and fathers’ involvement in schools was the subject of a major paper published in the University of Newcastle’s professional journal for teachers. This article argued that boys need role models, not just to look at, but to interact with.

Male role models can provide boys with the safety to figure out ‘what sort of man they want to be’ not just by copying but by interacting in a safe environment.

So until next time, God willing, know that Faith without works is dead.

As usual I can be reached at THE GENESIS FOUNDATION at 627-8433 or email genesistt@tstt.net.tt particular, give more space to dating and appearance than to school or career-related articles. And women in movies and on television spend most of their time talking about romance, while the men talk more about work.

Not exactly a revelation.

The survey also asked the kids to name the traits they most associate with female and male characters. While the researchers noted that both boys and girls connected women characters with whining, weakness and worrying about weight gain, and that’s definitely not a good thing, I found it even more disconcerting that one of the traits the children noted most often in male TV characters was their desire to have sex. Obviously, there are problems for both genders. The study’s findings that females are being misrepresented and underrepresented in the media are probably accurate. And it’s a shame that girls are still getting the message that they’ll be happy only if they’re thin, pretty and dating.

But I’m not sure boys are getting a better set of values from the images they see most, self-centred athletes, angry rap stars and sex-crazed college boys.

Schools across Australia recently began recruiting fathers and other men from the community to play sports, work in the canteen and help out in the classroom because they see the need for boys to have positive male role models. Male role models and fathers’ involvement in schools was the subject of a major paper published in the University of Newcastle’s professional journal for teachers. This article argued that boys need role models, not just to look at, but to interact with.

Male role models can provide boys with the safety to figure out ‘what sort of man they want to be’ not just by copying but by interacting in a safe environment.

So until next time, God willing, know that Faith without works is dead.

As usual I can be reached at THE GENESIS FOUNDATION at 627-8433 or email genesistt@tstt.net.ttparticular, give more space to dating and appearance than to school or career-related articles. And women in movies and on television spend most of their time talking about romance, while the men talk more about work.

Not exactly a revelation.

The survey also asked the kids to name the traits they most associate with female and male characters. While the researchers noted that both boys and girls connected women characters with whining, weakness and worrying about weight gain, and that’s definitely not a good thing, I found it even more disconcerting that one of the traits the children noted most often in male TV characters was their desire to have sex. Obviously, there are problems for both genders. The study’s findings that females are being misrepresented and underrepresented in the media are probably accurate. And it’s a shame that girls are still getting the message that they’ll be happy only if they’re thin, pretty and dating.

But I’m not sure boys are getting a better set of values from the images they see most, self-centred athletes, angry rap stars and sex-crazed college boys.

Schools across Australia recently began recruiting fathers and other men from the community to play sports, work in the canteen and help out in the classroom because they see the need for boys to have positive male role models. Male role models and fathers’ involvement in schools was the subject of a major paper published in the University of Newcastle’s professional journal for teachers. This article argued that boys need role models, not just to look at, but to interact with.

Male role models can provide boys with the safety to figure out ‘what sort of man they want to be’ not just by copying but by interacting in a safe environment.

So until next time, God willing, know that Faith without works is dead.

As usual I can be reached at THE GENESIS FOUNDATION at 627-8433 or email genesistt@tstt.net.tt