DMX, Michael Phelps, the law and media

It’s amazing the messages the media and legal system sends to kids these days. Not that all the blame resides with just the media. But they do their fair share of making sure kids get conflicting images, to be sure.

I mean there is the adulation that has been poured over Olympic gold medal winner Michael Phelps. Raising him up as a star with huge visibility. Only for the public to become aware of his pot smoking. Not that this is a media caused problem, though how they respond to this will say a lot to kids about the acceptability of drugs.

And I am sure the media will likely play this out in much the same way rappers are treated when they get in trouble (as if they spend time out of trouble). Take the recent sentencing of DMX, Earl Simmons.

DMX, who is no stranger to a courtroom, was just recently sentenced to 90 days. What did he do? Well he plead guilty, to reduced charges, of theft, animal cruelty, and drugs. That kind of leaves out the gun charges, and ignores his anything but law abiding past. Basically he has been given a slap on the wrists.

So it seems that drugs are fine, and animal cruelty is ok too. I mean Phelps is hardly being brandished as having done anything wrong, and DMX is sure to continue to be promoted in music videos and low-end movies. In fact both men might have a boost in media coverage and job opportunities if past history continues to be true.

And there is no question that if I were to be arrested, and plead guilty to any one of these crimes, I would hardly be given 90 days. I have no doubt that I would be watching bars for some number of years, and that is with a spotless past, which DMX does not have.

But there is the seemingly never-ending news about Britney Spears and her poor (at best) skills as a mother, the travails of Lindsey Lohan (sober or drunk/high), the highly publicized for no reason life of Paris Hilton, and a slew of other nay-do-wells. All of this is the daily diet given to kids, with the ultimate statement being drugs are ok, crime is relative to the money in your pocket, and nothing matters more than being known. Tell me that isn’t a poor message.

Where has the message of hard work and success gone? Where is the thought of responsible actions are the core of adult life? Where is the idea of being anything but a screw-up in life is preferred?

I realize that news, real news and not tabloid fodder, needs to be presented to the masses. But the way the media frames the news, and the way the legal system collapses in the face of promotable celebrity is absurd.

Maybe it’s me, but I just long for the days where adults in the view of children acted like adults. It seems that’s just too much to ask for in the 21st century.