Do we Need Adults as Role Models

Children from ages 6-12 have just crashed into an unknown island and with no adult supervision, things are not off to a very good start. A plane carrying English boys was shot down just over the ocean, unfortunately not everyone in the plane survived and with the pilot nowhere to be seen the children become desperate and scatter an throughout the island. Having adults as role models can affect the way one acts, speaks, dresses etc, as explained by William Golding in ¨The Lord Of The Flies¨. According to a recent survey, 63% of high school students ages 13-18, have said that their family members affect that way that they speak, act, and think because they are with them on a day to day basis. 24% of those students said that a teacher, coach or neighbor have influenced who they are today. The remaining 13% of those students said that their friend, colleagues, celebrities or others have affected the way they are. In most cases the sons acts like their fathers and the daughters act like their mothers. This inclination is in consistence with the “parent child relationship” that does, according to Ebenstein and Fogelman, appeal to those who live under totalitarian systems, regardless of being communistic or fascistic” In our lives we always look up to parents, important adults or adult figures (Basirat 197).

As described in (page 26) Piggy had asked ¨Aren't there any grownups at all?" Ralph responded "I don't think so." From this we can understand that Piggy was used to having an adult with him because when he said this, it can be presumed that Piggy could have been timid, given the fact that he asked if there was any grownups around. Shortly after, the surviving children held a meeting led by Ralph. Piggy said “That’s why Ralph made a meeting. So as we can decide what to do.¨ When Piggy said this we can infer that Ralph had learned to maintain order and leadership skills from possibly his parents since he was still a child. “He blows the conch and summons the deserted children together. He suggests the boys making a chief by voting, which shows his thought of law, order and democracy” (Li 119) Now with that being said, having bad role models can affect you the same way good role models can.

The children were a mix of groups, one of which was a choir. Since they did not known their names, they had given each other nicknames. In page 7, a certain child was given the name “fair boy”. When he had confirmed that there were no adults around, he said it in a solemn way “but then the delight of a realized ambition overcame him.” In this example we can understand that “fair boy” had always been a good child, but always had an ambition of doing the wrong thing. He had been with people that had a negative attitude, he just needed to find a way to unleash that feeling and soon enough he did. On page 26 Merridew told Ralph, “... we’ll have to look after ourselves.” This proves the confidence of Merridew. One way that he proves that he is confident is by showing a sight of relieve that helped the other children gain some hope. He also shows the characteristic of responsibility, he did this by saying that they had to take care of each other. Another characteristic he showed was leadership, it could have been that came from a military family. “His efforts are aimed at safeguarding the children against the possible dangers of the outside nature, exploring its resources for their benefit, and finally saving them from the island” (Basirat 193). He had enough courage to say that they will stay in the island but they were going two have to take care of one another. Many times teenagers fail to understand that being an adult takes responsibility.Although having a good role model around, to be a good role model, that takes time and experience.

In page 133 it states “The three boys stood in the darkness, striving unsuccessfully to convey the majesty of adult life” The 3 boys had assumed they were good role models to the rest of the surviving children but unfortunately they also became desperate. “As soon as they get together to make a society, things start to fall apart and there start wars and corruption” (Al-Zamili 157). Later in the passage it got worse for the boys, they started saying things like “If only they could get a message to us... If only they could send us something grown-up.. . . a sign or something.” They had started to panic, the boys needed help from adults, they could not take all of that responsibility by themselves, it was neither the time or the place that they needed to take that amount of responsibility. Being able to take charge of a group of children being a child is like the blind leading the blind. It was not possible for them to do that. They did not have the experience, they did not know how to handle a situation like that because they were all still children they still had not done the things or past through situations that an adult has done or gone through. “Children are not mature enough to make decisions on their own. They are amenable, and more likely to yield to others’ supervision and guidance, especially that of their parents”(Basirat 196).

On page 133 things escalated nothing was going good for the children. Piggy began saying things like “Grown-ups know things,”, “They ain’t afraid of the dark. They’d meet and have tea and discuss”. This shows that Piggy missed his family and wanted someone to take over, not just anyone but a grown up. It can be very difficult to not have a good parents as role models in ones life. Even when you are by yourself and you have to take responsibility, many times you wish you had your parents or someone grown up to help you. When Piggy, Ralph, and Jack were drifting away and everything was getting old, all 3 boys were wanting help. “We’re all drifting and things are going rotten. At home there was always a grown-up. Please, sir, please, miss; and then you got an answer”. This was what Piggy had said when everything was going wrong, when they could not take anymore responsibility. He started reflecting on how he always had someone to count on when he was at home, and now that there was no grown up around he did not know what to do. “I wish my auntie was here.” “I wish my father. . . Oh, what’s the use¿‘.

The boys were at the point that they were going to have to give up, they were wishing someone important in their life, someone they looked up to was with them. Regardless of how old anyone is, in a difficult situation that we may be in, we will always remember that one person that has been there for us and when they are gone, whether it's our parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends or other important people, it's going to be difficult knowing that they can't help us anymore. Although the situation will be tough, we must remember what they had taught us as throughout our life and put those skills to good use such as communication, leadership, confidence, responsibility etc.In conclusion, we all need role models in our lives to help us succeed. With good role models we can help keep things calm and organized in the time of need. Despite the fact that we are constantly told what to do at home or at work, we need to recognize that letting out the “evil or bad” side of us can lead to more problems in an already bad situation. It is good to have responsibilities but we need to be able to know how much responsibility we can handle. Also we need to know who to look up to, it is good to follow people of good moral and good manners.

That way we will inherit or take those character traits into our lives and we will be able to apply them into our everyday lives. Regardless of what people say the majority of the time our attitude, the point of view, the way one speaks, the way we dress, and even the way one sits, we have learned from our parents.

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