Does Participating In Sports Really Keep Athletes Out Of Trouble?
(In today’s society) We tend to put professional athletes on a pedestal. We are captivated by their words and we find ourselves so wrapped up in their, “accomplishments” that we are more or less blinded by the roles they play during the game, that we fail to get to know their true character when they are off the field, court, or rink. Whether it is apparent to individuals or not, the truth is that professional athletes do get themselves into a large amount of trouble, no matter the circumstance. A main contributor to this concern is hazing and other malicious behavior towards team members. Hazing, specifically, has resulted in incarceration for several professional, collegiate,
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As budding stars, many of these sports men and women experienced or participated in some sort of hazing rituals on sports teams in their past. An article titled, hazing in sports: the effects and legal ramifications, by A.R Peluso, suggests that, “…hazing is detrimental to the institution of sport and its ability to build positive character qualities such as strength, discipline, and work ethic.” Hazing on professional, collegiate, or even ammeter recreational teams can lead to incarceration and even death in some circumstances. Many including coaches and sports directors, overlook the severity of hazing. The concept of hazing wasn’t brought to public attention until 1980 with a hazing scandal at the University of Michigan. Since then, cases have increased steadily and as a result, new protocols have been implemented to eliminate the amount of athletes that have fallen victim to hazing. Since these protocols are relatively new, they must make up for lost …show more content…
Three in Five athletes admitted that they were unacceptably initiated into their athletic teams, with the main problem being that 60% of athletes said that they wouldn't report hazing if they saw it happen, or were hazed themselves. Individuals who are subjected to such malicious behavior are at high risk for self-esteem issues such as depression, anxiety, and even suicidal thoughts and or actions. The fact of the matter is that hazing can essentially rip apart a team or organization with the harm it causes not only physically, but emotionally as well. With this act going unrecognized, it could potentially lead to severe consequences not just for the individuals preforming the act, but the whole team in
Athletes do not always get in trouble, but when they do some athletes tend to have favoritism shown to them by the law enforcement. When it comes to athletes that break the law, one major viewpoint is that some athletes tend to get special treatment when they commit crimes because they are famous, but with harsher consequences. Athletes are supposed to be role models for younger kids who look up to them, but they are getting in trouble and causing controversy for all the wrong reasons and it is affecting their careers, the athletes might not think that it is because of the favoritism that law enforcement shows them, but it is. When athletes do commit crimes law enforcement tends to be bias toward them because they are known around the world (Withers). Therefore, this causes a lot of controversy surrounding the athlete because many people believe that they do not get disciplined like they should.
This research paper will determine whether professional athletes deserve a second chance to play in professional sports after inappropriate behaviors. Professional athletes are considered idols and are often held to higher standards. Society has become concerned with so many of today’s athletes making the evening news for their unsuitable behaviors.
It is amazing how an isolated incident, such as the one at Colorado, can incite such a large frenzy and call for change. The scandal started with a former recruit telling his experiences during his college visit in Boulder at the University of Colorado. His stories included wild parties with unlimited amounts of alcohol and the open availability to sex with the women of his choosing. The term used for these parties was "sex parties" and recruits were told that the women would perform any sexual act he desired. After the recruit made his experiences public, other stories began to surface from other recruits who had similar experiences at Colorado and other schools. The situation came to a boil when a former female player accused some of her team mates of sexual assault at one of these parties. Other students came forward with similar allegations of football players forcing sex from females at their parties. What started as small story ballooned into a very situation and it became very obvious that the recruiting game was out of control and in need of major change. After the stories surfaced out of Boulder, Colorado more stories began to surface around the country and even Brigham Young University kicked off four players for sexual misconduct.
Jensen, Mark, et al. "The Athlete Stigma in Higher Education." College Student Journal 41.2 (2007): 251-273. Academic Search Premier. Web. 29 Nov. 2011.
There has been a lot of athletic scandals in colleges in most parts of the world. These scandals have been as a result of the coaches and the directors of athletics in the colleges failing to take the full force of the law and giving their players freedom to do everything even if it is against the law. One of this fatal scandals is the Baylor university basketball scandal that occurred in the year 2003. This scandal involved the players and the coaches of the team. The scandal left one player dead and the other imprisoned for thirty five years. The team was subjected to a lot of punishment by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The NCAA is a non-profit organization comprised of 1281 institutions, organizations, individuals and conferences and that organizes the athletic programs of most of the colleges and universities in the United States and Canada (The New York Times, 2003).
Through research and support from historical analysis, criminological theory, and support from the relevant branches of the criminal justice system the National Football League’s departmental policy on substance abuse has been in use and amended many different time since the early 1970’s. In the following paper recommendations will be made to help make changes to the NFL’s substance abuse policy, and it will address specific needs to help the National Football League clean up their image.
College athletes are manipulated every day. Student athletes are working day in and day out to meet academic standards and to keep their level of play competitive. These athletes need to be rewarded and credited for their achievements. Not only are these athletes not being rewarded but they are also living with no money. Because the athletes are living off of no money they are very vulnerable to taking money from boosters and others that are willing to help them out. The problem with this is that the athletes are not only getting themselves in trouble but their athletic departments as well.
Howard-Hamilton, Mary F., and Julie Sina. "How College Affects College Athletes." New Directions for Student Services (2011): 35-43.
Hazing has been around forever. However, up until the last few decades, it was never taken too seriously. Now there are serious cases where death has even occurred. Hazing is something that we need to define, so that we can properly punish the people who commit some of these crimes. Some of the cases throughout recent years prove that hazing can be a serious criminal action, and also punishable by law. The effects that hazing can cause on a person, and a community are numerous. This information is backed up through facts that will support these claims. Luckily, there is ways that hazing can be decreased and possibly prevented entirely. Hazing needs to be taken more seriously
In the sports world, as much as in the political, social or corporate world, ethics is put to the test at all times. Most athletes spend their career trying to overcome many barriers in order to gain notoriety and achieve good results with the objective of winning titles and, especially, to have great future opportunities, as for example, being awarded with an athletic scholarship.
Improving competitiveness is not the only advantage to beginning a football program two years earlier. Junior high is a time when many young people reach a crossroads between the innocence of elementary school and the complicated choices that come with the independence of high school. These are the years that young people begin making life changing choices in their search to identify who they are in this new world of leaving childhood behind. Many middle schoolers choose paths that do not lead to positive results. Some students during this time begin the illegal use of drugs and alcohol as well as other delinquent behaviors. Sports are a proven deterrent to these types of decisions. Studies reveal the number of athletes that become involved with drugs and alcohol is a significantly lower percentage than that of non-athletes.
The journal article, “What does sport mean to you? Fun and other preferences for adolescents’ sport participation” claims that fun, social aspects, masculinity, and identity are the main reasons youth participate in sports (Skille and Østera˚ s, 360). Oftentimes, athletes forget they are on the same team, and they start to form cliques or groups based around who has the best bench press or 40 meter dash time. As a result, teammates start to compete with each other instead of working towards the same goal. For instance, one coaching journal article claims that “moral reasoning” in youth is determined through “collective norms” or group behaviors that the coach has a hand in influencing (Shields, LaVoi, Bredemeier, Power, 748-749). A proper coaching environment should therefore revolve around a fun, supportive, and collective environment where success is encouraged through the full support of the team. This support can further be developed through proper positive mindfulness and code of conduct guidelines set forth by the coach; for instance, hazing should be discouraged and proper communication and helpfulness among teammates should be
Everyone is aware of the role that these athletes have to do. We should not look at the inappropriate actions of few athletes. The. I was biased to believing that all athletes are bad before I started. doing my research for this paper.
Hazing in universities across the nation has become a common tradition that develops mostly in Greek organizations. Hazing is seen in many different social groups such as schools, military units, sport teams, fraternities, and sororities. Prohibited by law for unnecessary reasons; hazing is a way to grow with friends in a closer way than independent students will ever have the chance to. Every year there are thousands of teenagers that pledge for a fraternity knowing of the possible chance of being hazed. People that join fraternities join for a sense of belonging and to meet people with similar interests. Trying to fit into a new college campus can be hard for a person to do. Almost every group pressures the new pledges to participate in hazing activities to create a sense of brotherhood. Hazing is a process that creates a sense of unity, also it teaches the one being hazed about himself and his brothers; being hazed into a group will help someone become a well-rounded person and will help them overcome struggles later in life.
Sport is never far from controversy. Whether it be alcohol-fuelled misbehaviour, allegations of drug abuse or inappropriate public musings on a thorny political issue, the national press is filled to the brim with sports stars dragging the image of their employers — and the sports they represent — through the proverbial mud.