You can include Charles Barkley’s line, “I’m not a role model.” He was addressing how kids should be looking up to parents, teachers and community leaders, not athletes that do not have even casual relationship with their “fans.”
(Bailes Julian, McCloskey John. When Winning Costs Too Much: Steroids, Supplements and Scandal in Today’s Sports. Lanham, MD: Taylor Trade Publishing; 2005.)

With athletes often failing personally, either through violence off the court or taking drugs (steroids, alcohol, etc.), the adoption of them as a “Role Model” is a precarious situation that changes suddenly and often forces parents to reevaluate for their children the aspects of sports hero worship. In today’s media, with the instanteous reporting of behavior, one’s hero becomes one’s goat in a matter of minutes.

Athletes vary on taking up the mantle of responsibility of being a role model. But a few doctors have some things to say about the situtation:

“For me, kids emulate their heroes. For me, it’s all about them. They won’t emulate the community heroes, or their academic heroes, or their parents,” (Dr. Rich) Melloni said one day in his office. ‘That’s why athletes matter…I couldn’t care less how many balls a guy can hit over a fence. If Barry Bonds and these other athletes don’t want the responsibility that comes with being someone other people want to emulate, then he should work at Wal-Mart. There, they do whatever they want and no one will care. Otherwise, he should stay away from children. He should stay away from my children.’ ” (Howard Bryant, Juicing The Game: Drugs, Power and the Fight for the Soul of Major League Baseball. New York: Penguin Group; 2005. pg 161-62.)

I guess a con would be that if you allow your kids to adopt sports heroes as their role models, you are risking damage when their heroes do things horribly wrong. (But that risk is inherent in any relationship..)

I hope some of this helps… I’ve been tangentially working a project that relates to how steroids (DID NOT) result in the power outbursts in MLB, starting in 1993-94.
But the negative viewpoints on steroids, via Agenda Building process (Dr. Bryan Denham, Clemson University) and Steroid usage, Dr. Charles Yesalis (Penn State) and Dr. William
N. Taylor (unknown) is well documented. That could be a support of your thesis.

Good Luck.

Good luck on the midterms! I survived on coffee and vivarin…

Good luck with all your exams and the paper