Idolization of Athletes

The Idolization of Athletes

The idolization of athletes and sports is good and helps the society. Three main reasons why its a good thing are that it sets a positive mood on doing well in school and chasing your dream or goal, a lot of athletes give to charities, and the last reason is that athletes give a positive mood on being physically fit.

They say that one student drops out every 26 seconds and the next campaign is trying to prevent that from happening. One athlete that gives a positive mood on doing well in school and chasing your dream or goal is LeBron James. He has a program that keeps kids in school and teaches them that it's better to go too high school than to drop out. LeBron James and State Farm teamed up to create the 26 Second Campaign, which keeps kids from dropping out of high-school. "The 29 Second Campaign uses music, sports, videos, online activities, and prize opportunities to engage students."(Will Cutrone). James has an interest in several projects involving children's causes, including work with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Many of his efforts put a premium on education. "It's basically kids getting parents aware of the situation." (LeBron James)

Next I'd like to explain the charities that athletes give to and support. Many athletes give to charities that range from natural disasters to cancer relief. More than ten million Americans are living with cancer and one athlete that is trying to make a difference is Lance Armstrong. He donated five million dollars to his own foundation Livestrong that finds new ways to raise awareness, increase outreach, and facilitate collaboration in an effort to improve the cancer experience. Recently Livestrong has teamed up with the YMCA. "Livestrong at the YMCA is a twelve-week program designed for adult cancer survivors. Our goal is to help participants build muscle mass and muscle strength, increase flexibility and endurance and improve functional ability. Additional goals include reducing the severity of therapy side effects, preventing unwanted weight changes and improving energy levels and self esteem. " (Lance Armstrong)

Finally I'd like to describe how athletes set a positive mood on being physically fit. The NFL has a program called Play 60. It encourages kids to be physically fit for at least 60 minutes a day and to help prevent child obesity. "The program will be made available to 1,120 schools in the 32 NFL markets over 3 years. The NFL's charitable foundation is awarding a grant to study how to better prevent childhood obesity." (Administrator). Another big contributor to this program is Barack Obama. He likes to participate in the activities that the program does and even play with the kids that are participating.

That is why I think that having athletes as role models and people to look up too is a good. Its good