Sports players should be held to a higher account of behaviour than average people.

The brain is a complex entity whose development is shaped not only by genetics but also by its environment. Although the brain continues to develop throughout life, children’s brains are far more impressionable (or plastic) than adult brains, meaning that they are both more open to learning and to being shaped by outside factors. Media play an important role in children’s environment and subsequently affect children’s developing brain. In particular, the frontal lobe is responsible for executive functions, and is one of the last parts of the brain to develop.

Given the way the teenage brain works, should we lower the voting age to 16?

I think that society on both sides of the Atlantic and in most parts of the world is hugely confused, with dozens of mixed messages for teenagers. One example of this ambivalence is that in the US we send 18-year-olds to war yet we don’t let them drink. From what I’ve learned, the data would suggest that if you’re looking for a vote to come from somebody who you trust to make rational decisions using cause and effect, and some insight, the average 16-year-old will not yet be at that point. Also, as teens are so impressionable, the concern is that their opinion might be overly swayed by others and override their decision-making.

My teenager doesn’t seem to care about school at all. Why are they so uninterested in doing their homework, and how can I motivate them to study?

How many other competing interests do they have? For many teenagers, it’s certainly more fun to play a video game or go on Facebook than do their homework. It’s an issue we all face in the modern world, but serious demotivation can be a symptom of learning or processing problems. In that case, the teenage years are an ideal time to diagnose any problems and help work on their strengths as well as weaknesses. People have different learning styles, and there is a lot of opportunity for plasticity before your brain is fully mature. Teenage brains have more synaptic connections than adult ones, which makes them highly impressionable, as they’re building synapses and modifying them as they learn. They are primed to learn quickly and can memorise things faster. People might think their capacity for academic achievement is set in stone from a very young age, but this can change quite dramatically over adolescence. It’s a period of huge opportunity, and this suggests that you can really change your destiny with respect to how you function at school if you get some attention during this time.

Sportsmanship

A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation provided clear answers as to how a professional athlete's sportsmanship was perceived by kids. Seventy four percent say it's common for a pro athlete to yell at a referee; 62 percent say that trash talking opponents is the norm; and 46 percent say it's not uncommon for athletes to take cheap shots at opponents. The same children agreed that it wasn't uncommon to see those same behaviors while playing sports among their peers. A spoiled-athlete mentality may teach children that it's OK to yell and fight to get what they want.

Fitness

Athletes do teach children about the hard work that it takes to become the best at a given sport. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that almost 20 percent of children ages 6 to 11 are considered obese. This is due in part to sedentary, video game lifestyles. By looking up to their favorite athletes, children may be more inspired to hit the court, get outside and play to stay active. This can translate to an impeccable work ethic and a higher degree of fitness on and off the field.

Drug Use

It's no secret that some professional athletes use performance-enhancing drugs in order to get the edge on their opponents, and that can inadvertently affect the children who look up to them. The suspensions of New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez and a number of other baseball players for the use of banned performance-enhancing substances reflect the ongoing problem. After Mark McGuire admitted to setting the record for single season home runs in 1998 while on the steroid substitute androstenedione, sales increased 1,000 percent, according to "USA Today." Steroid and supplement use by professional athletes sends the message to children that it's OK to cheat as long as you're the best.

Lifestyle

The lifestyle that athletes lead, depending on the athlete, can have a mixed effect on children. Some athletes work hard, provide for their families and participate in charity work for the community. Others concentrate on making money, living the high life and getting endorsement deals. The trick to finding an athlete role model for your child is to find one that you'd like your own child to be like when she becomes an adult. The athlete lifestyle can be fulfilling and happy or indulgent and ridden with scandal. Choose the one you'd like your own child to emulate.

Conduct during Competition and training
The key aspect of appropriate behaviour for an elite athlete during both training and competition is adherence to rules. The rules of sports are in place to ensure fairness and safety for all participants and should be stuck to at all times. As well as having specific rules of the sport in place, many clubs, events and competitions will also have written codes of conduct, explaining how participants, coaches and sometimes even spectators are expected to behave and it is just as important that these codes of conduct are adhered to as well as the rules of the sport.

It is important to remember that when training and competing in top level sport, athletes are setting an example to others and are promoting the image of their sport, so it is vital that appropriate behaviour, fair play and good sportsmanship are displayed at all times.

As well as the actual rules and codes of conduct involved in sports, there are also some unwritten rules that should be followed to promote appropriate behaviour, such as respect for peers, officials and others, fair play and good sportsmanship at all times.

Examples of these are shaking hands with opponents and officials at the end of a game, putting the ball out of play for an injured player to receive treatment, or even congratulating an opponent on an excellent shot, goal, or skill.

As part of their conduct during training and competition it is also important that athletes wear appropriate clothing at all times. Clothes should be safe, comfortable and should most importantly portray a professional image for the athlete. Some events will have rules on clothing, such as plain white outfits at the Wimbledon tennis tournament in London and such rules should also be adhered to strictly.

Equal Opportunities
Athletes in the public eye should be promoting equal opportunities at all times. This involves treating everyone they come into contact with equally and with mutual respect. It applies to fans, coaches and managers, drivers, reporters, peers, family, agents, accountants, fellow athletes and so on.

Promoting equal opportunities helps to uphold a positive image of the sport, as well as providing young sportspeople with a good example of how they should treat others and most importantly helping to reduce the incidences of negative issues in sport such as racism, sexism and homophobia.

Appropriate Role Models
It is extremely important for athletes to remember that as they are in the public eye and are often respected and even adored by some fans of their sport, they must act as role models to young people, other participants and the general public. There has been a recent increase in media coverage of sport, with the introduction of dedicated sports TV and Radio channels, internet news and sport websites and so on. This has lead to an increase in the amount of media exposure athletes' experience. Often their behaviour away from the sports arena is covered almost as much as their sporting performances are and this makes it even more important for top level athletes to behave as role models.

Many athletes act as excellent role models and work hard to promote playing sport, being healthy and other valuable topics to youngsters across the country. These are known as 'Sporting Ambassadors'. An example of this is top level footballer Wes Brown, who has recently helped the Football Association to launch and promote a strategy called 'Get into Football'. This scheme was aimed at disabled participants, attempting to get them more involved in football and make the sport more popular with people who have a disability.

Enhancing the Status of the Sport
As well as focusing on their own conduct and behaviour, professional athletes should also be constantly striving to enhance the status of their sport by promoting its image and encouraging people to take part. This is particularly important for athletes from less popular sports, where the performer can work with governing bodies and the media to raise the profile of the sport and increase its participation levels and popularity. This will have huge positive effects on sport across the country, as it will also encourage young performers to strive for excellence in the sport which will improve the standard at which we can compete with other nations in international competitions such as the Olympic Games. It will also improve the health of the population as a whole if more people are taking part in sport. Professional athletes can play a major part in making these positive changes to our society.