I saw this in a recent Reuters news report, and thought it might be a good subject to discuss since several parents I know are concerned that the questionable antics of some of the young celebrities are getting far too much press coverage. A recent poll seems to bear that out.

“A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center for People & the Press said Thursday that 87% of respondents believe celebrity scandals get way too much ink and airtime. Only 8% think the media get the balance between celebrity and serious news right, while 2% told the surveyors that there wasn’t enough celebrity scandal coverage.”

When I was a kid growing up in Thunderbolt, Georgia we didn’t have a television at all. We kept up with the celebrities via “movie” magazines, most of whom have long since gone by the wayside. In those days the movie producers pretty much covered up scandals, and very few legitimate news outlets ever carried any story about “bad boy” celebrities.

Fast forward to the cable news outlets and news magazines of our day. The Anna Nichole Smith-Bradgelina-Paris Hilton-Michael Vick-Britney Spears-Barry Bonds scandals have been covered ad nauseum. What we are missing here is the effect all this is having on the young people of our day. These celebrities, among others, are snubbing their noses at everything we teach our children that is legal and moral.

Used to be, our sports heroes at least stood for something. For the most part, they were our role models growing up. We learned teamwork from them and we learned how to persevere under adverse circumstances. We also learned we had to be an example of all that was good about America if we were to follow in their footsteps.

Somehow the attitude of so many celebrities these days is “deal with it” when they act out in public or break the law. They seem to like to thumb their noses at the expectations of the public that makes their money and fame possible. In the process, they’ve become warnings of how not to behave rather than positive examples.

As Christians, whenever we are tempted to do something that might make other people stumble, we need to take note of what our own life styles are saying to others, and heed the warning in scripture that bad morals corrupt good company.