It is really idiotic to make your kid immitate a celebrity. There are no such things as "perfect role models".

just beacause i see some ignorant thing a celebrity does doesnt mean ill copy it and ziman i agree with you why are u making a big deal out of crap oh and plus, who cares if michael phelps smokes majiurana! he still is the same athlete he is! oh and maybe kids WOULDNT know about if u kept your mouth shut!

thats totally true! celebrities, particularly actors, you cant look up to because just because they're acting is great doesn't mean that character is who they are. i think the world has learned that a little bit about Miley Cyrus. She's a typical teenager who happens to be an okay actress but wants to be sexual and does make honest mistakes that all teens do. She's come out of her shell and is being forced to, after she does make mistakes, apologize. hmm.

i 110% agree with you. :D

this isn't true. demi and selena aren't the only girls out there and they arent fake or pathetic. you obviously do not know about people out there who actually are good role models and aren't fake nor pathetic. learn before you speak, please.

well i am disapointed because now the only role models left for girls are selena gomez and demi lovato and they are fake and pathetic it makes me mad because i don't wnat my daughters turning into stupid girls

I'm kind of appalled that people made a bigger deal out of Phelps' pot smoking than about his drunk driving arrest. Seriously how many people does he put in danger when he smokes weed? None. OK, one (himself) if you're the kind of subjectable person who's been brainwashed by government propaganda and believes that pot is a harmful drug (I suggest you do some research into the subject, you'll undoubtedly come to the conclusion that it's safer than alcohol).

How many people does he put in danger when he drives drunk? Everyone on the road. So maybe we shouldn't focus on the ganja. The guy's 23, for Christ's sake, he should be able to smoke a bowl once in a while. He should be able to drink too, but under no circumstances should he drive while under the influence.

I think it's kind of ridiculous when I look at the examples at the top of this page... Chris Brown beats up his wife, A-Rod cheats at his sport and makes millions of dollars at it.... and Michael Phelps smokes weed. Weed helped me through high school and college (couldn't concentrate on my work before i started smoking it) and I've been toking on and off for the past 30 years without noticing any difference between smoking and not smoking, except making it a little harder to run.

So back to my original point (sorry for getting on my soapbox about the cannabis thing): if you want to label Phelps as a bad role model, do it because of the drunk driving, not the grass smoking.

I think the only thing kids are learning from these role models is that if you commit a crime and you are a celebrity you don't have to worry about the consequences as much as us commoners do. If I was caught with visual evidence of marijuana use I would be sent to jail and have to go to trial; the charges would not have been dropped. If I was caught abusing illegal drugs I would be immediately fired from my place of employment. If I attacked a girlfriend I would be sent to jail for domestic abuse, and I would not be able to afford the bail they would post on me. Celebrities tend to act as if they can do nothing wrong because we put them on that pedestal. The only thing celebrities are teaching kids is that if you are a big enough celebrity, you can get away with murder.

These people are human beings, and therefore make mistakes and participate in things that others may consider wrong.

But in MY opinion, parents shouldn't freak out every time their kid's celebrity crush is caught doing drugs or beating up his girlfriend. There's always some ridiculous commotion like: "Oh my Lord, my son looked up to so-and-so, and he was caught doing such-and-such."

I'm not a parent, heck, I'm not even an adult, but I have to ask myself: What has the world come to when parents can't be role models for their own kids? When they instead let random celebrities do it, and when that celebrity is caught doing drugs, it's a big deal.

Come on, parents, get over yourselves and take matters into your own hands. Geez, talk about 'Common Sense.'

I feel very differently about Phelps and the other two men discussed here. I agree that Phelps made a mistake, but then handled the fallout very well. Let's face it, as far as I can tell, most of the young people I know over 16 (and I'm talking about kids with above B averages, never in trouble, etc) have tried pot (and certainly most of those in my generation did). The main thing is it's illegal and it's not a great idea and it's not something one wants to recommend to your kids. This is a young man who, as far as I can tell, did little other than train for years on end, with not much of a normal adolescence. Which was certainly his choice, but it's a choice which shows tremendous discipline and determination. I believe within days of the Olympics he was in an inner city YMCA hanging out in the pool (or teaching swimming to the kids?). Not someone coasting on his fame or acting irresponsibly. Smoking pot did not bring him any personal gain (such as the steroids did A-Rod). Yes of course his behavior means we need to discuss it with our kids. (more on this below.) I still think he deserves to be a role model, and is in a powerful position to talk about coming back from stupid mistakes.

As far as the other two men are concerned, I think they behaved far far worse: one not only broke the law, he disrespected his sport and teammates by using the drugs for personal gain, insulted his fans and behaved unethically. The other one's alleged actions are surely the worst: if he did assault another person, how can we possibly compare that to smoking pot or using steroids? Would you really lump these together as equally bad in a conversation with your kids ?

For me, Phelps' actions are almost the most positive to discuss, because they give me the opportunity to say to my kids (19, 14 and 10) first of all, even heroes are human, they mess up. And look -- in the course of your life, you will most likely screw up and do some extremely stupid things -- then what ? You can still go and do incredible things, IF you learn from those mistakes and become stronger and wiser, not let those influences pull you down further and give up on yourself. I think there is a value in seeing that someone who has achieved absolutely incredible feats is also human (although this is certainly not the way I would have chosen for my kids to have realized that). Then, you can go on and talk about some ways to stay away from drugs and make other choices. (Obviously the 19 yr old had already got that figured out before all this and the conversation had already started with the 14 yr old; I guess the moment to start in earnest with the 10 yr old).

Although I plan to talk about A-Rod, I don't feel (I hope not naively) my kids are as likely to bump into the temptation to do steroids. Hopefully they will think they are gross.

They have already expressed disgust at the other guy.

Sorry for such a long post -- just a little sick of hearing people talk about Phelps as though he'd been guilty of murder.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/56636/saturday-night-live-really-michael-phelp...

I am only commenting on Phelps, he's the only one I know or care about.

He is a role model in positive and, unfortunately, now negative ways. As many have said, this is an opportunity to talk about his mistake and the consequences. I think he accepted responsibility and apologized in a professional manner. The work effort he puts in to be the best in the world is worthy of being a role model.

I am very sad that Phelps smoked pot. I never have and never will use recreational drugs. That is even a silly way of saying illegal drugs. However, he did admit it and owed up to it. When we have a President that used cocaine then pot seems pretty tame. We glorify these performers and sports figuires knowing that many of them use drugs or drink excessively. Just look at the money we pay them and homage we pay by buying their CD's Videos and going to their concerts. Our heros should be people worth admiring, teachers, doctors, nurses, firemen and policemen. Of course we need to regcognise that they are human and thus their are flawed and not perfect either. "To sin is human, to forgive is devine".

It's not so much the fact that Phelps was doing drugs that bugs me (after all, let's face it, half the country was either high on drugs or liquor when they read about this story). It's the hypocrisy of Mr. Phelps, A-Rock, C. Brown, and the other phonies who portray themselves as one thing while the reality is very different. But what else does one expect from a country where appearance is so much more important than substance. We're only getting what we deserve.

I couldn't agree more.

I have never looked up to a celebrity. As a young lad, my hero was Batman, not Michael Keaton or Adam West, Batman, the character. As I got older, I looked up to my Uncle, and now, not anyone really, I don't feel I need to be like anyone, now, I fell I need to establish my own identity.

My point is, we can't look up to celebrities, what we see of them isn't who they really are, and most of the time, who they really are isn't pretty.

Okay. I'm pretty disgusted with celebrity role models in general. I mean, adults involved in childeren's lives seem to use "celebrity role-models" as an excuse to not be good ones themselves. I just see alot of either letting celebrities be the role models or excuse poor actions by relating them to celebrities. Not everybody, but I see it more and more. Celebrities are real people. They have real flaws. We should not excuse them differently nor should we hold them accountable differntly. I am 19, and I just now have a true hero. What I mean is, I am just now finding someone that I respect and want to be like. Not only because they are awesome, but because they have flaws, and own up to them. They don't try to be a hero, they just try to be themselves. A-rod did something that essentally means he cheated in his carrer, then lied about it. Not cool. Beating your girlfriend is not cool, either. As for Phelps, I really don't have a problem with what he did. It did not enhance his performance, and I personally think there are worse things to do. I feel bad for anyone who can't even socialize without scrutinty. I'm not saying its okay, but there are worse skeletons to have in your closet. He made a mistak to do it in public, knowing that his carrer could be damaged if caught. And look what happend.

I have had enough.

Think about this: if whomever took that photo of Phelps had just kept his mouth shut, no one would know about his smoking marijuana. No one would care, he would be the same over-hyped, over-exposed athelete he was before.

Same thing goes for anyone else mentioned. If the media would just leave celebrities the fraggle alone, no one would know about, care about, or be affected by these scandals.

Nuff Said.

It's important not to hold errors against celebrities forever; we all make mistakes. However, it's important that kids see that all mistakes have consequences, ex: Michael Phelps losing sponsorships. You can use these news frenzies as a lesson too, and your kids can learn from others' mistakes. They can make sure they don't let anything go to their head or think of themselves as above the law or common ethics.

It's disappointing to see so many celebs take their status and the fact that so many kids look up to them, for granted. But I think the main point you have to drive home to your kids, is that celebrities are people too. They make mistakes and often, there are consequences.