Summary
It has long been believed that role models can influence people’s lives and decisions, especially during their formative years. This essay explores the idea of good role models and how they might serve as deterrents to a criminal lifestyle. It investigates the various definitions of a “positive” role model and the significance of role models in The Other Wes Moore. This essay intends to shed light on the value of role models in determining personal paths and deterring criminal behavior through an analysis of Wes Moore’s memoir and outside sources.
The Influence of Positive Role Models in Preventing a Life of Crime
Positive role models’ ideals, attitudes, and behaviors significantly influence children’s growth. Children look up to these role models during their formative years and try to imitate their excellent traits. Anyone who demonstrates admirable qualities, such as parents, teachers, community leaders, or public personalities, can be a positive role model. Children learn valuable life lessons and values by watching and engaging with these role models, laying the groundwork for their future conduct.
Positive role models may deter criminal behavior, which is integral to their influence. Children are more likely to internalize and repeat certain behaviors when they can access favorable role models who live law-abiding lives. Children are guided away from the temptations of crime by these role models, who offer them another route. Children are inspired to aim for similar results by seeing the accomplishments and successes of positive role models, directing their energy and aspirations towards positive undertakings.
The Significance of Role Models in The Other Wes Moore
The Role of Positive Mentors in Shaping Life Trajectories
Positive role models are important for reasons other than personal growth. They are also essential in building a society that is loving and helpful. The impact of good role models is clearly illustrated in The Other Wes Moore. The author compares his life trajectory to that of Wes Moore, a different man who experienced a similar upbringing but chose a different path. While the author was lucky to grow up with supportive role models, the other Wes Moore did not.
Positive role models who instilled work ethic, education, and moral character in the author include his mother, grandparents, and mentors. His inspiration to overcome obstacles and pursue success came from these role models, beacons of light. The absence of these mentors made the other Wes Moore vulnerable to the harmful influences of his surroundings, which finally drove him to engage in criminal activity.
The significant contrast in outcomes between the two Wes Moores highlights the ability of positive role models to influence lives and their potential to serve as deterrents from a life of crime. This relationship is not new, but rather an expected outcome of the absence of support. His article “Two Men and Two Paths” delves into the correlation between poverty, lack of positive role models, and criminal behavior (Kristof, 2010).
Kristof emphasizes the importance of mentorship and guidance in breaking the cycle of crime. He argues that by providing at-risk individuals with positive role models and opportunities for mentorship, society can help redirect their paths towards a more constructive and fulfilling future. In other words, it is possible to prevent criminal behavior if a child’s surroundings are safe and helpful.
Cultural and Personal Influences on Role Model Perceptions
Cultural and social influences significantly influence perceptions of positive role models. The traits seen as admirable and deserving of imitation within a particular group are influenced by cultural norms and values. For instance, whereas in certain cultures academic excellence and professional success may be highly regarded, traits like compassion, humility, or volunteerism may be given precedence in others.
One’s own experiences and goals also influence the idea of a good role model. Everybody’s life experiences have shaped their values and views somehow. A role model who exemplifies resilience and determination may carry enormous significance for someone who has overcome adversity. Another person might be motivated by a role model who exhibits compassion and empathy in line with their ideals.
The Importance of Diverse Role Models for Inspiration
Diverse role models are essential because they represent and inspire people from various backgrounds. The Other Wes Moore strongly emphasizes the importance of different role models in influencing ambitions and decisions. Wes Moore, for instance, discusses the influence of his mother, Joy, as a role model. “My mother… would tell me stories about her father, his escape from the plantation, and his journey to freedom. Her stories shaped my aspirations,” he reflects (Moore, 33). Wes found inspiration in Joy’s tales of fortitude and independence, demonstrating the power of representation through various role models to influence individual aspirations.
Respecting and comprehending diverse definitions of good role models is crucial. Wes Moore uses his interactions with many influences to examine the significance of a person’s worldview regarding role models. He adds, “Sometimes, the line between right and wrong is blurred, and we are left to draw our own connections. Sometimes, to define ourselves, we have to take our own measure of a man” (Moore, 151). This implies that everyone’s perception of positive role models is arbitrary and shaped by their opinions and life experiences.
Family, Educational, and Community Figures as Role Models
The influence of family members on a person’s values and conduct is significant. Wes Moore remarks on his father’s impact in The Other Wes Moore and says, “Dad was right, of course. Our parents obviously shape our stories… We internalize their voices, make them our own, until we reach the point where we can’t take them apart from our own” (Moore, 37). This demonstrates the significant influence of parental figures as role models and shows how their advice is profoundly embedded in a person’s personality.
Education-related role models such as instructors and mentors significantly impact people’s decisions. Wes Moore’s experiences at military school and later in college illustrate the transforming influence of educational role models. Wes says of Colonel Batt, his role model, “I owe so much of who I am to him. He had more faith in me than I had in myself” (Moore, 106). This exemplifies how mentors may lead and motivate others while assisting them in realizing their full potential.
Community role models can offer direction and support. The Other Wes Moore emphasizes the importance of local leaders in influencing people’s lives. Wes Moore recalls his interactions with local drug traffickers and opposing characters like Ms. Johnson, a deserving community role model. He said, “Ms. Johnson was doing everything she could to counteract the world of a code I had grown up with” (Moore, 85). This illustrates how community leaders who play good roles can counteract harmful influences, provide advice to others, and act as rays of hope.
Works Cited
Kristof, N. “Two Men and Two Paths”. The New York Times, 2010. Web.
Moore, Wes. The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates. New York: Spiegel & Grau Trade Paperbacks, 2011.