Tiger Woods is a poor role model, particularly for kids. (If you are an adult you should be fully conversant in the do's and don’ts of life, and if you haven’t figured it out by now, I can’t help you.)
I have a problem with all the comments I’ve read on this situation and I felt compelled to write about it. My problem is the constant use of the word "perfect", meaning "none of us are perfect", "no one is perfect" and the most common, "give him a break, he is not perfect" followed by "he's still a good role model for his sport". What?
Why do people keep pointing out that Tiger is not perfect? If I don't murder anyone, am I considered perfect and therefore a good role model? No. Do we say about murderers, "Hey, man, nobody's perfect." Yeah, I didn't think so. Since when is refraining from cheating on your spouse equated with perfection? Are all faithful spouses perfect? No. Okay, so now that most of us agree on the “no one is perfect” statement then why do I keep hearing it used as the excuse, “Give the guy a break. No one is perfect” for Tiger's infidelity(-ies)? To me that sounds like: “not faithful”= “not perfect” and “faithful”=“perfect”, therefore, everyone who is married is not faithful because we know that “no one is perfect”. Well, we sure know that's not true.
There are many brilliant individuals who would be good role models in their field of expertise who have also beaten, molested and even killed. So, are they still good role models if they’ve committed any of those acts? For adults, we can differentiate, but kids? It's like you are telling them, it’s okay for Mike Vick to have dogs fight to the death because he is a superior athlete, and that makes him a good role model. No, that just doesn’t cut it for me. I guess my standards are just a bit higher for my role models because being faithful is one of them. You know, don’t physically, psychologically or sexually abuse me, don’t murder me, don’t lie to me, don’t cheat on me. Understand, though, that if you don’t do those crappy things, I still know full well that you are not perfect.
If Tiger beat his wife, would you take him off your list of good role models? Would he still be a role model to his supporters? Would you want your kid to emulate him? And what exactly is the cut off for going from “a good role model” to “not a good role model”? Where do we draw the line? Surely, I would think cheating on ones wife would be way up there in the “not a good role model” category.
If you are going to be on my list of good role models, you should be one in all areas of your life. That’s not asking for perfection. That’s asking for your best, which is completely different.
