The Importance of Role Models
Image: Champion Life Role Models Ben and Jasmine Jobson
As parents and teachers, we are the most influential people in our young children/students' lives. We are adored and more or less regarded as all-knowing, ever-capable and just generally wonderful!
Until...... we're not!
Sometime between middle primary and early secondary school years, our children will start to seek greater independence, develop a stronger sense of logic, personality and self. This goes hand in hand with loosening relationship ties with primary and significant care givers.
Move over Mum/Dad/Teacher, and hello peers, media, celebrities, an insatiable appetite to know the world and a desire to gauge their place within it. And who can blame them? Given the choice of eating the same (albeit favourite) meal every day for the foreseeable future or being able to choose from a menu featuring cuisines of the world.....most of us would go with the new, exciting, varied option.
What then, parents and teachers?
How do we ensure our precious children absorb the values and life lessons we so dearly want to impart to them? When our position of influence takes a downward turn, what's our next best option?
Role models inspiring positive change.
Experts across the fields of child and adolescent psychology, health and education such as Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, Maggie Dent and Steve Biddulph, all advocate providing positive role models as one of the single most powerful factors in fostering a child's development towards adult health and wellbeing. A child's instinct to copy is incredibly strong. If we can cater for our child's appetite to know the world beyond us and expose them to influential people living out positive, healthy life choices, we maximise their chances of making positive healthy choices for their own lives.
The conundrum is, we can't always tell who our children will latch onto or what style of personality/appearance/qualities/occupation etc... will appeal to them. What we can do is deliberately put a diverse range of positive role models in their path, to help deliver the positive health and wellbeing messages you want your kids to absorb.
Champion Life Role Models are folks from all walks of life, young and old, diverse cultural backgrounds, high profile people and average Aussies, with a wide range of talents, interests and personalities. We have deliberately recruited a smorgasbord of role models to help positive health and wellbeing messages resonate with every child in Australia.
Engage with the program yourself and you just might find your own Yoda or Mr Miagi!
Ask your children/students who are their favourite Champion Life Role Models. Their answers may surprise and enlighten you!
About Champion Life
Champion Life is a curriculum aligned online resource for schools that motivates and supports young people to develop lifelong health, fitness and wellbeing habits. Students watch a "real life" role model complete a physical or health activity and then practice and upload their own version.
