Family breakdown, high divorce rates and the abandoning of children are problems that face many South African families. There is also a crisis of absent fathers - men who don’t take responsibility for their children, leaving mothers to shoulder the entire responsibility for raising children. This feeds into a myriad of social problems, such as a lack of discipline, early school drop-out and lack of positive role models. Although it is especially hard to take responsibility in difficult circumstances – like unemployment, unwanted pregnancy, and untimely death, due to AIDS or other illnesses. HEARTLINES will try to show that taking responsibility for one’s children, is a value that will help solve a number of societal problems. Taking responsibility in one area of one’s life also teaches one to take responsibility in other areas.

Articles on this issue produced by Heartlines Features:

  • It is time for every citizen to be responsible, writes Rev Dr Mvume Dandala, patron of  Heartlines.
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  • Family and the notion of family responsibility seem to be changing rapidly. Recent research indicates that absent fathers are common in South Africa and that poverty might be shaping the way the family is evolving. Sharon Davis reports.
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  • Do companies honour their responsibility to their staff, environments and communities? Do they have a community? Stuart Graham reports.
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  • Jabu Pule’s is the ultimate tale of talent squandered and opportunities lost. Having struggled with drugs and alcohol abuse and earned a reputation of being entirely unreliable due to his infamous disappearing acts, Pule claims now to be a changed man, complete with the new name of Jabu Mahlangu. He spoke to Karien Jonckheere.
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  • The Laureus Foundation is an academy of 42 former elite sportsmen and women which words to allocate funds for social projects worldwide which use sport as a tool for change. South Africa is well represented with several Laureus ambassadors, such as Morne du Plessis, Gary Player and Lucas Radebe. By Karien Jonckheere.
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  • Players, supporters and administrators should take responsibility for keeping rugby safe, writes Karien Jonckheere as she explores the events which killed Riaan Loots recently.
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  • People and elected leaders are equally accountable. Winston Churchill once said, “The price of greatness is responsibility.” Sharon David looks at the characteristics of a good leader.
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  • Karien Jonckheere looks at how Swimming South Africa is fulfilling its responsibility to children with its “Every Child A Swimmer” programme.
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  • Should sports people be role models? A column by Karien Jonckheere.
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  • Warren Buffet’s Guide to Ethical Investing by Stuart Graham.
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SHOULD SPORTS PEOPLE BE ROLE MODELS?

By Karien Jonckheere.

NBA star Charles Barkley enjoyed plenty of controversy during his career. But he could not have predicted the massive outcry when, in 1993, he appeared in a Nike advert claiming that athletes should not be role models. “I don’t believe professional athletes should be role models. I believe parents should be role models.... It’s not like it was when I was growing up. My mom and my grandmother told me how it was going to be. If I didn’t like it, they said, ‘Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.’ Parents have to take better control,” he reckoned.

In an era when ear-biting, drug-taking and match-fixing are some of the examples being set on the sports fields, is it possible that the legendary basketball player may just have had a point? What are today’s kids learning from watching sport and should people who just happen to be rather good at the sport they choose to play be placed on pedestals and their behaviour, on and off the field, scrutinised and set as an example to follow?

Studies have shown that children tend to mimic the behaviour of the people they admire most. And in a society in which parents aren’t always present or don’t have copious amounts of time to spend with their children, sports stars and celebrities seem to be the obvious substitute. Those who don’t have staunch mothers or grandmothers like Barkley’s will inevitably look elsewhere for their role models.

Is it then the athlete’s responsibility to take over the role that once belonged to parents?

Granted, parents should take more control. But perhaps sports stars also need to realise that along with their fame and the honour of representing their province or country comes that responsibility to adhere to a certain set of norms known as acceptable behaviour, lest their questionable antics make their way to the back pages of the country’s newspapers and television screens.

Just ask Shane Warne or David Beckham or closer to home, the likes of Benedict Vilakazi and Herschelle Gibbs. The media are ready to pounce on any slight indiscretion on the part of athletes, and the public seem to lap it up, rushing for their copy of You magazine and the latest gossip on who Becks has been sleeping with.

While any average Joe adheres to a certain set of morals and values, the pressure to conduct oneself in a “respectable” manner seems to be hugely intensified once you’re in the limelight and have a green and gold shirt on your back.

And with many metaphors drawn between sport and life, the line between on-field and off-field behaviour seems to be a very faint one.

So whether they’re throwing a sneaky punch on the field in the heat of a game or beating someone over the head in a club, there is little difference. And even though they may not have asked for it, the naïve kid who idolises them will either be desperately disappointed or think that’s an acceptable example to follow.

So maybe Mr Barkley’s theory on parents is the ideal scenario. But it is inevitable that, regardless of whether he may have chosen it or not, he was a role model to many during his career. And while that may be a massive responsibility for any sport star to take on, perhaps it should also be seen as an incredible opportunity to inspire, motivate and spur a nation off their couches and onto the sport fields.