PARIS (CUP) – Picture a motorcade with police escort speeding down a Madrid street, sirens blaring, blue and red lights reflecting off the walls of the buildings they pass.
They are greeted by a hysterical crowd and excited photographers. The security officials attempt to restrain the crowd as a car door opens and David Beckham emerges.
The crowd surges forward, determined to get closer to the object of its affection. The paparazzi cameras are flashing and snapping frantically to get every angle possible.
All this for a 28-year-old London lad from working class roots that has become what Paul McCartney or Mick Jagger were in their heyday-the idol of millions around the world. And just because he can play a little football.
David Beckham represents the coming of age of the modern soccer player. He has amassed wealth, celebrity and success. He may seem quiet and shy, but to achieve what he has, Beckham, like any other soccer player at the top, has shown remarkable determination, discipline and self-confidence. His rags to riches story should be an inspiration to younger generations, yet the consensus of experts, parents and kids is that soccer players like Beckham are not the best role models for impressionable youngsters.
Paul Marcille, psychology professor and dean at the American University of Paris, says that children use what they see and hear to guide their behaviour.
“A child that watches violent movies for example, is more likely to display anti-social behavioural tendencies,” says Marcille. However, he puts the ultimate responsibility with parents, who have to limit their children’s exposure and more importantly teach them to critically evaluate situations.
“Children have more free time and have more active imaginations than adults. They fantasize a lot and can have difficulty distinguishing between fantasy and reality if they are not taught how.”
It is precisely the susceptibility of children to fantasy that can make soccer stars dangerous.
Marcille also says that children will have difficulty seeing the difference between the behaviour of a player on the field and off it. This explains why 10-year-old Charles looked so puzzled when asked if he considered his favourite player Ronaldinho, a good off-field role model.
Munching enthusiastically on potato chips, Charles tilted his head to one side and said, “I don’t know.” For Charles, it seemed impossible to separate the person from the player.
Sitting in a nearby café Mr. Diouf, whose two sons are in training reflects on this.
“Kids focus mostly on what the players do on the pitch. I mean, if Ronaldinho invents a new dribble tomorrow night, by Saturday all the kids will be trying it.” He also says it is unreasonable to consider footballers as role models off the field.
“My boy likes Roberto Carlos. He can see the things that Roberto Carlos does on the field, but he doesn’t know anything about his private life. So how can Roberto Carlos be a model for him off the field?”
It’s a question answered by Pauline Wallin, author of Taming Your Inner Brat: A Guide for Transforming Self Defeating Behavior. She maintains that the characteristics that enable professional athletes to be successful are the same ones that make it more likely for them to get into trouble. According to her, research shows that athletes are more aggressive and competitive than the average person.
“Athletes that get into trouble . . . minimize the consequences of risky behaviour, in order to justify it. Thus . . . they convince themselves that nothing bad is going to happen and nobody’s going to get hurt.”
Susan Boon, professor of psychology at the University of Calgary, takes the analysis one step further, stating that kids don’t even realize the extent of the effect players have on them.
“It’s often hard to realize how much anyone influences us,” she says. “We like to think that we develop our own identity and sense of self.”
