Jordan Olsen
Honors English 3
Underpaying Those Who Help Better The Lives Of Others
What is more valuable to your future; C the man running around the bases making millions of dollars, or your teachers who further your education making just enough to get by? What about the policemen and firefighters risking their lives every day to ensure your safety? Teachers, police officers, and firefighters are all underpaid compared to professional athletes for what they do. Teachers, police officers, and firefighters prepare, help, and protect society and should get paid more to reflect all they do.
Teachers further the education of America. Teachers educate the people of tomorrow. They educate the future doctors, lawyers, teachers, and more. Without teachers and educators who knows where we would be today. Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” (Quotes About Education). Malcolm X also spoke of the importance of education, “Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.” (Quotes About Education). Educators provide us with the opportunities to gain immense amounts of knowledge. And with that knowledge we can make a difference. Teachers are truly the first line of offense in the bettering of future generations. That is an important job and teachers are not given the respect or pay they deserve.
Policemen serve and protect society. They risk their lives every day to ensure our safety. C.L. Gunter, a police officer in Pittsburgh, is taken aback at the salary of a police officer. “Nine, $10 an hour, putting my life on the line every day – ridiculous,” (Sheehan). Police officers have a high risk job that entails a hefty work load. “…the job of the police officer is to keep "customers" happy. These "customers" comprise the citizens of the city, town, or village the police officer patrols, and keeping them "happy" means keeping them safe. Police officers routinely deal with unpredictable people -- criminals, drug dealers, thieves, and liars -- in unpredictable situations. The cost of poor performance can be quite high, making police work not only one of the most dangerous occupations, but also one of the most stressful and underappreciated.” (Dugan). Policemen have to deal with new unknown situations each day. Unlike athletes who know who they are playing each game, police officers don’t have a schedule of whom and what they are going to have to deal with. Most people don’t appreciate police officers because of the tickets they give out for traffic violations and such, but everything they do is to protect the good of the people.
As well as the police force, firefighters also risk their lives for society. Firefighters are required to do much more than just fight fires. Very few calls actually require a firefighter to put out a fire. They must rescue people, property, and animals from accidents, ensure safety, enforce safety standards, provide advice, be present at emergency sites, give first aid assistance, and more. (Firefighter Salary). Now in performing all the jobs, firefighters still only get paid on average $42,053 (Do you know what you’re worth?). Shahine Robinson, a minister of state in Jamaica WI, said "As a government minister under whose ministry the fire service falls, I am not afraid to tell you that we are not paying you enough for all the skills that are needed and the risk you have to take to get the job done," (Fisher). The job of a firefighter entails much more than their title implies. Athletes on the other hand have one job. They play one position. The only thing people expect them to save is the ball. If an athlete doesn’t save a ball, the worst thing that could happen is the team loses the game. If a firefighter doesn’t save a life, a person could die. Firefighters get paid a substantial amount less than professional athletes to save something more important.
Most people these days look up to professional athletes. They consider them role models; they strive to be like them. But they don’t realize that their favorite athletes are all that they are cracked up to be. It is estimated that around ninety-five percent of NFL players take steroids. (Professional Athletes & Anabolic Steroids: Do All Pro Athletes Abuse?). Dr. Michael J. Sampson explains, “Young athletes are in the mindset of invincibility and consequently they are increasingly more inclined to use these drugs—especially if they see professional athletes breaking world records while using them,” (Franks). Children should not look up to someone abusing illegal substances. The real role models are the people who help, serve, and protect them. Policemen and firefighters risk their lives to protect the community. Teachers spend their days teaching the people of the community to expand their knowledge and grow into the people they wish to become.
On the other hand, some of the people who are against the athlete salaries are actually assisting the athletes in getting paid so much. “We are the ones who are willing to keep giving more of our hard-earned money to attend games in person, buy over-priced beer and food and wear the jerseys of our favorite athletes. If we stopped going to games and buying officially-licensed merchandise, then these numbers would obviously have to go down to balance out the budget. When we make the decision that it is worth it to pay a day's wages to attend a three-hour game and cheer till we lose our voices, then we are telling these athletes that they are worth every penny they make, and maybe in the minds of some people, they are worth it.” (Mueller).-- >4 LINE QUOTATIONS USE BLOCK QUOTES Professional athletes are celebrities. They are always in the spotlight, whatever they do. Games are aired on television, merchandise sold in stores. It is understandable athletes get all the attention they do. You can’t go out and buy a shirt of your favorite teacher or firefighter. Daily lessons aren’t aired on cable during primetime. But giving money to professional sports organizations only elevates the amount of money that is able to be offered to athletes. It is the people paying for all of the products of the organizations that are supporting the high athlete salaries.
Everyone with a job gets paid a salary. Everyone’s salaries are different. But it seems the people whose job is to help better and protect society are the ones with a lower salary than those who are there to entertain. The people who risk their lives and work toward educating the future are the most deserving of a high paycheck. They do their job to help others live a better life, to ensure others are able to do their jobs to their best ability.
Works Cited
"Quotes About Education." GoodReads.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2012. <http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/education?page=3>.
Sheehan, Andy. "Latest News." Relief May Come To Underpaid Police Officers « CBS Pittsburgh. N.p., 5 July 2011. Web. 18 Oct. 2012. <http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2011/07/05/relief-may-come-to-underpaid-police-officers/>.
Dugan, Dawn. "The 8 Most Overpaid & Underpaid Jobs." Salary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2012. <http://www.salary.com/the-8-most-overpaid-underpaid-jobs/slide/3/>.
"Firefighter Salary." Firefighter Salary. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2012. <http://www.firefightersalary.net/>.
"Do You Know What You're Worth?" Salary.com Salary Wizard. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2012. <http://swz.salary.com/SalaryWizard/Fire-Fighter-Salary-Details.aspx>.
Fisher, Horace. "'Firefighters Underpaid' - Minister Admits Government Does Not Reward Enough." The Gleaner. N.p., 23 Sept. 2011. Web. 18 Oct. 2012. <http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20110923/news/news2.html>.
"Professional Athletes & Anabolic Steroids: Do All Pro Athletes Abuse?" FitFlex. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2012. <http://www.fitflex.com/steroids-professional-athletes.html>.
Franks, Robert R. "Growing Pains: Steroid Use Among Professional Athletes Influences Young Adults." American Osteopathic Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2012. <http://www.osteopathic.org/osteopathic-health/about-your-health/health-conditions-library/childrens-health/Pages/steroid-use.aspx>.
Mueller, Chris. "Chicago Cubs." Bleacher Report. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. <http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1089195-two-sides-to-every-coin-are-professional-athletes-overpaid>.
JORDAN: Great research and excellent defense of the value of the jobs done by teachers, firefighters and police officers. Excellent description of some of the negative values of some professional athletes. The hard part, and the part for focused revision, is to answer the question why SHOULD these civil servants be paid more? You make the case well that the civil servants are of more service to society, but do you provide claims/evidence/warrants to say WHY one’s salary should be based on what they contribute to society? You can avoid this be shifting your claim to one of fact that states we do NOT really value civil servants or by leaving athletes out of it and merely making the case civil servants should be paid more. ßthis last one might be it! Bring in opposing claims here as well. Talk to me if you need more direction for revision.