Role Models

There has been a debate about role models lately. It started when Charles Barkley did a Nike commercial saying that he is not a role model, he is a basketball player, and that it's the job of parents to be their children's role models.This prompted other basketball stars to say, no, Charles is wrong, and that as a public figure, he must accept the responsibility of being a role model.I agree with Barkley. The ability to jump high and slam dunk a basketball has entertainment value and pays well, but compared with other skills -- such as collecting garbage -- it really doesn't make the world a better place to live.

NEW YORK -- Dick Barnett -- Dr. Richard Barnett -- could have written his doctoral thesis on the "fall back, baby" jumper, the ungainly but deadly shot that became his trademark in nine years and two National Basketball Association championship seasons with the New York Knicks."

The Anne Arundel edition of The Sunday Sun misidentified Kevin Jackson in a story about a father-son breakfast sponsored by 100 Black Men of Maryland.The Baltimore Sun regrets the errors.On the day before Father's Day, three young black men stood in front of a group of youngsters in an Annapolis church and stressed how their cohesive families are helping them stay focused enough to become engineers and lawyers.That's part of an important message on role models and career choices that a group called 100 Black Men of Maryland hopes to drive home to youths who may be tempted by less-productive pursuits.

On the 19th floor of the United States Fidelity and Guaranty Co. building, Tom Lewis holds up an issue of People magazine and asks 20 young men if they think they might be able to find good role models therein."

Sometimes, you can learn a lot just by keeping quiet and listening. Joppatowne High football coach Bill Waibel did some listening and learning last week. Waibel, who also teaches at the school, overheard a few conversations among his players and students about last Sunday's Ravens-Detroit Lions game and he learned quite a bit about what the kids took from the penalty-filled contest. "The kids watch pro football," Waibel said. "Some of the kids were a little bit shocked by it, and that surprised me. There were a few that were laughing at it, and there were a few that looked up to them.

Cradlerock School is using the approaching Thanksgiving holiday to promote positive male role models and healthy lifestyles. On Wednesday, the school hosted its annual Meals with Magnificent Men, a lunch that encourages interaction between fathers and their kindergarten children. The lunch was not limited to fathers and was open to other family members. Central office personnel such as Steve Drummond, security coordinator for the county schools, also ate with the children. "That was a way for them to connect with the kids," said Principal Jason McCoy.

Can you think of any male role models in preschools?" my wife asked.I had caught bits of "Kindergarten Cop" on television the night before while baby Judith decided whether to sleep, eat, teethe or bewail the rate of entropy in the universe."Arnold Schwarzenegger?"Neither of us could come up with any better names on the spot; Mr. Rogers and the male characters on "Sesame Street" don't really count. Maybe I'm not the person to look for role models, though, because the phrase sets my teeth on edge.

Matthew Whitehead and Masih Sultani, both 17, used to skip school. Now the Woodlawn High School students are doing so well in class that both have been accepted at several colleges. Aladdin Johnson, 15, had grown content with low C's but now boasts of nearly earning straight A's. They are only a few of the examples of how one program has changed the course of some lives at a Baltimore County school with a long history of problems. Woodlawn's "100 Strong Male Role Models" program is so successful that it has begun attracting national interest, as schools from the Northeast and the Midwest seek advice on how to build a student group that gives young men in struggling schools the tools to thrive.

Ashleigh Davenport huddled over a nursery book with one of her big "sisters," completely ignoring the grown-ups talking family business across the room.Paging through the book with 16-year-old Vonnita Pinkett, Ashleigh spotted a picture she liked. "See, the daddy's cutting the bushes," the 4-year-old crowed.The two girls, reading side-by-side on a library bench Monday night, were the unsuspecting focus of the adult discussion. Their easy companionship reflected the "family bond" that's the goal of Jack & Jill of America Inc.Ashleigh's mother, Christine Scott Davenport, decided to organize an Anne Arundel chapter after talking to parents from the national association during a 1988 convention in San Francisco.

A frustrated Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III, facing an upsurge in crime just days into the new year, said at a news conference recently that he and the mayor can't be the only ones "trying to engage people's morality about violence in this city." That was a day after a city councilwoman and a developer were indicted on bribery charges in connection with tax breaks for a waterfront project and a day before the mayor was indicted on charges that she appropriated gift cards meant for the poor and didn't disclose lavish gifts on her public expense reports.