I was walking through the cereal aisle a while ago and happened to notice a box of Wheaties with Michael Phelps on the front and it got me thinking. In the US, we love our athletes. They are on all sorts of products and selling us stuff on TV. We buy expensive jerseys with their names on the back. We pay lots of money to see them perform. Kids aspire to be them. We worship them.
The sports hero worship is detrimental and is pointing kids down the wrong path. A family member who teaches junior high was recently telling me about how many of the kids in her class couldn’t care less about education because they expect a future career in the NBA or NFL. The US culture and media has sold these children an impossible dream. While this is an extreme example, I do think most of us are looking at the wrong group of people for inspiration.
We are living in amazing times. Think about it. 100 years ago, people were still getting around in horses and buggies. Now, consider some of the recent achievements of mankind:
- We carry around computers in our pockets (iPhones) that have way more processing power than the original space shuttle.
- We have flippin’ self driving cars
- We have decoded much of the human genome
- Our lifespans are incredibly long compared to just a few generations ago
- We have eradicated or found cures for many diseases that until only recently, killed large numbers of people
- We have massive information available to us with the click of a mouse and it’s free
- The Large Hadron Collider is unlocking the secrets of the universe
How did all of these great things come to be? I’ll tell you. There are smart, creative people out there who are thinking differently and working their butts off to do great things for the betterment of mankind. These people are the real heroes and are who I want my children to be inspired by.
Here is what I want:
- I want to see a kid wearing a jersey with a picture of an atom/electron cloud on the front. On the back where the player’s name would normally be, it would say Einstein. The number on the jersey would be 186,000 (as in miles/second or the speed of light).
- I want to be able to buy a cereal called Smarties. Instead of some sports guy on the box, we’d see Carl Sagan or Albert Einstein or Stephen Hawking or Jonas Salk. On the back would be a description of how this person made the world a better place.
- I want my children to know about the great people of our time. There are so many of them: Elon Musk, Bill Gates, James Watson, Steve Jobs, Jane Goodall, Warren Buffett, Larry Page and Sergey Brin come to mind immediately for me.
- I want kids to come to my house on Halloween dressed like Einstein or Elon Musk. Triple candy for those kids!
What I really want is for my children to grow up to be smart, responsible and caring individuals. I see how much my two young daughters are influenced by external forces that try to tell them who or what they should be. All too often, these forces are in opposition to my principles. I don’t think my daughters need tons of toys, just a few really good ones. I don’t want them to idolize musicians or TV stars or misbehaving athletes; I want them to idolize the lady scientist who was on my flight last week. Perhaps if my daughters saw this scientist on TV or even on a box of cereal, it would nudge them ever so slightly in a better direction.
So, bring on the Smarties Cereal! Free slide rule or Hero Trading Card in every box!!
*Elon Musk was the inspiration for the movie character Iron Man. No wonder why, this guy is amazing:
- First, he came up PayPal which revolutionized how we pay for stuff online.
- He then started SpaceX which just successfully launched a rocket to the International Space Station. Musk does it for a fraction of what it cost NASA.
- His 3rd trick was launching Tesla Motors, the electric car company.
- Most recently, he has launched SolarCity, a company which installs residential solar panels.
It amuses me that one guy can do all of this, but our ridiculous politicians here in the states can’t pass a budget. Elon, please run for president. Since you’re from South Africa, you’re not allowed, but screw it, I’ll vote for you anyway.
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Well written and said. It is a shame that we have kids look up to athletes and not the people who truely move this world forward.
Side note: I”m sure you have seen the amazing youtube video “Carl Sagan – A Glorious Dawn” from the Symphony of Science series by melodysheep. If not you should check it out. I could watch that video all day
Yeah, that video is awesome!
Sagan was great. He brought science to the masses. We need more like him.
He actually cam to my school to speak shortly before he died. I decided to skip his appearance to study for a calculus test. I did get an A in the class, but wish that I would have skipped studying that day to see him instead.
Great point about how the roots of the current icons pop culture are based in the hard work of those often in relative obscurity. I wonder what could catalyze this change in culture toward different areas of success.
Very difficult question. I don’t think its like this everywhere. I’ve read that in China, people aspire to be engineers. There are also many more female scientists/engineers. I wonder why.
I really like those ballcards! I wonder what Beckett. Has them going for! Really though, you make a good point. Unfortunately until society decides to emphasize different values, sports stars etc. will be the ones getting the notoriety.
Great post! You bring up the case of athletes and pop stars and children wanting to be like them, I think a lot of it comes back to them seeing the glitz and thinking that life will be a bowl of cherries if they have everything. I think a lot of it comes down to values and what drives you. These are amazing times and largely due to innovators thinking outside the box and be willing to push the edge to see their vision become a reality. Here’s to hoping that continues with the younger generations.
Yes, good point. TV shows like MTV Cribs don’t help things either. There should be a TV show where they show what happens to some of these folks (Vince Young and MC Hammer come to mind) who have squandered everything.
I completely agree! All we can do is teach our kids about hard work and lead by example. They will be exposed to external forces but we just have to hope that we have gave them enough guidance to make smart desicisons.
Bring on the Smarties cereal!! lol
It is difficult! So many things compete for our kids attention. I think if you pay attention to your kids and give them lots of your time, you’ve won half of the battle.
“Thursday rants” is my fave part of this blog, keep them coming!
Thanks, your support means a lot!
I have a ton of them floating around in my brain and almost every day I see something that gives me new ideas. No shortage of source material…
And sometimes the smarties are physically awesome, too! Alan Turing ran a 2:46 marathon back in the 1940s. That was really freaking fast back then – and even really fast now!
Wow, 2:46!
PS: I’d like to know what Buffett whispered into Mr. Pop’s ear!
Great rant. Here’s some words of wisdom from Louis CK about how everything is amazing.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8m5d0_everything-is-amazing-and-nobody-i_fun#.UTlxqldkizI
Thanks for the compliment and for reading.
I don’t even have to look at your link because I’ve listened to this one a million times. Louis CK is awesome!
Yes, I love the job idea.
We have a 6 and 3 year old. The 6 year old undertands what money is, so she has to earn it by doing little chores. She also has to save some of it.
I had some horrible summer jobs, but you’re completely right; you think twice about spending money if you have to work hard to get it in the first place. Bad jobs also make you appreciate good jobs once you’re finally in the real world.
People should read about the % of athletes who make it to the pro level – THEN see how many end up bankrupt – the movie Everybody’s All American was great for showing one aspect of an athlete’s life.
A lot also comes down to what a kid’s parents value and push (but not too hard) – I teach my kids about how each age is a building block for success – and it’s truly a day by day thing – if you skip days they become lost weeks then months then years – so one needs to focus daily.
Last weekend I sketched out a graph of income potential to my 4th grader about income potential and how her daily efforts in school contributed to it – she really understood it well.
Very well thought out and written!
Ha, yeah! Vince Young immediately comes to mind. William Perry is a another one. He is doing manual labor these days.