Real Role Models and why we need to engage with them.

This might be harder than you think.

Turn off the electronic stuff, find somewhere quiet and spend 15mins with no interruptions thinking about the people you actually know who you respect and look up to.

So no historical figures, no famous people, no sports stars (unless you know some)

What is it about them you respect? What do they do that you admire? What do they stand for that you believe is worthwhile?

And while you ponder this think about how much time you have spent thinking about 'famous' role models (or the media version of those role models) and their relationships, their influence on our children, the dress they wore or the tweets they did. How many magazines/ insta-posts you have flicked through in search of the latest news of people you don't know who you are never likely to meet.

Our communities, families and neighbourhoods are full of people who may not have worn a designer dress on a red carpet or kicked the winning goal but who we can respect and look up to. We may or may not have met them yet, or invested time in getting to know them and maybe unsure about how to, but they are there.

Real people make real role models for ourselves and our children and it is time for us to recognise that and spend more time focusing on them.

you are probably one too.

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