Not model behavior
Kids need their role models to behave like role models
Comments (...)In a famous Nike commercial, former NBA superstar Charles Barkley announced to the camera and the world, “I am not a role model.”
He went on to say that parents, not someone who can dunk a basketball, should be the ones setting an example for their children.
And while Barkley was right and parents should strive to be the first and best examples for their children, it has often been held by many that kids during their formative years should also be able to look up to their teachers, their coaches and the other adults who accept the responsibility to lead them.
While the vast majority of these should-be role models work hard day in and day out to live up to those expectations, there have been far too many examples in recent weeks – both locally and on a national level – of role models who are failing to live up to the high expectations to which they should be held.
The most recent example of such a failure is the arrest of Seneca Township High School football coach Ryan Reade for driving under the influence. According to a police report of the incident, Reade – who is also a driver’s education teacher – was allegedly weaving on the interstate and driving at just 40 mph.
Word of the arrest did not become public, it seems, until the Morris Daily Herald was made aware of it nearly three weeks after the fact. From the reaction of school officials, it appeared they may have not been previously aware of Reade’s arrest either.
While Reade, if found guilty, will face consequences for his actions in a court of law, it is not yet clear whether there will be consequences meted out by Seneca High. It would be a shame if there are not, because it is clear what these kids need to learn now is that there are indeed consequences to the decisions we make.
Either way, unfortunately, these high school athletes who play for Reade each Friday night through the fall will have their own ramifications to face because of Reade’s actions. These students, some of whom may have no other strong male role models in their lives, can no longer trust Reade to set an example for them to follow. Instead of learning from him good sportsmanship and the responsibility of being on a team, they are seeing examples of poor decision making and, quite possibly, an attempt to hide from one’s own actions.
The one positive thing that can be said for Reade in this situation is that his indiscretion, while impacting his players and students, did not directly involve any of them. The same, unfortunately, cannot be said for some of the other bad role models that have been in the spotlight in recent days.
One unfortunate example occurred in Morris, while the most notable of them all is that of Jerry Sandusky and the Penn State football program.
Like Reade, former Morris Community High School teacher Steffen Balegno is facing consequences in court for his failings. For Balegno, however, the consequences of his alleged illicit text messages are likely to be more harsh than those Reade will face, and could be something that will haunt him forever.
Balegno, however, has already begun to feel the consequences, having been forced to resign his teaching job when the allegations were first raised. It is almost ironic, in fact, that someone who should have been an example to his students is, instead, being made an example.
We can only hope that if Balegno is found to be guilty of the charges against him, if he truly did improperly proposition one of his students, that the courts will also make an example of him.
Perhaps a punishment fitting his crime, one appropriate to the way he misused the trust and respect that would naturally come with his position of influence, will make other should-be role models think twice (or maybe even three times) about the appropriateness of each of their actions.
Because, in this era, when such stories of impropriety, indiscretion and flat out poor decision making are becoming far more common than they should ever be, our kids and teenagers – now more than ever – need coaches, teachers, Scout leaders and other role models to whom they can look up to and from whom they can learn.
Without teachers who provide support and encouragement, without coaches who provide training in life as well as sports, and without role models who help to teach our youth how to be contributing, productive adults in the future, where else can our children turn.
After all, Charles Barkley has already let it be known he does not want to be their role model.
The Morris Daily Herald Editorial Board is led by Publisher Gerry Burke and editors Patrick Graziano and Mark Malone. It makes its editorial decisions in consultation with other members of the Herald staff.
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