Phelps in Trouble?

This is just very, very sad. So many kids look up to Michael Phelps and he has let them down. I am a middle school teacher and swim coach in Maryland. For years I have observed that the "heroes" kids idolize are often total losers. Then, Michael Phelps came along, a seemingly perfect role model. Now girls even have pictures of Michael Phelps on their binders! One girl started crying (really!) when she heard the news. But, at least she realized that he had done a terrible thing and didn't shrug it off like "so what?" She knew that what he had done was much more than a "mistake." Hopefully what kids learn from this will not be "what's the big deal about drinking and driving if even Michael Phelps does it," but rather that sometimes even our "heroes" do bad (really, really bad, inexcusable) things. I was encouraged by the kids' reactions today. Every single one, I thought, responded appropriately.

This is just very, very sad. So many kids look up to Michael Phelps and he has let them down. I am a middle school teacher and swim coach in Maryland. For years I have observed that the "heroes" kids idolize are often total losers. Then, Michael Phelps came along, a seemingly perfect role model. Now girls even have pictures of Michael Phelps on their binders! One girl started crying (really!) when she heard the news. But, at least she realized that he had done a terrible thing and didn't shrug it off like "so what?" She knew that what he had done was much more than a "mistake." Hopefully what kids learn from this will not be "what's the big deal about drinking and driving if even Michael Phelps does it," but rather that sometimes even our "heroes" do bad (really, really bad, inexcusable) things. I was encouraged by the kids' reactions today. Every single one, I thought, responded appropriately.