Jon Jones' DUI Arrest: A Practical Point of View

Now that the media circus surrounding Jon Jones’ DUI has settled down some, let us take a realistic look at the situation. 

By societal standards, Jon Jones is a kid. He’s 24 years old. Sure, he’s legally responsible for his actions, as well he should be, but he’s still just a kid, and kids do stupid things. 

It seems that athletes are held to a higher standard than the rest of us. For other celebrities, a DUI is an accepted part of the cultural imperative, and if drinking excessively is all you’re doing then you’re considered to be a pretty responsible celebrity.  

As for us regular folk, who among us hasn’t, at some point, gotten behind the wheel after a few too many? Some haven’t, and deserve to be commended, but the smart money says most of us have, at least once.  

You probably just never got caught. According to the New York Times Bestseller, Freakonomics, “Drunk drivers are rarely caught. There is just one arrest for every 27,000 miles driven while drunk. That means you could expect to drive all the way across the country, and then back, and then back and forth three more times, chugging beers all the while, before you got pulled over (Levitt, Dubner, 2).”  

Of course you don’t have to be an award-winning economist with all kinds of fancy statistics to see that drunk driving is a fairly common practice. All you have to do is go to the local bar and observe.  

Regularity certainly doesn’t make it right, or any less dangerous, but let’s chill out for a minute with the self-righteous sermons.  

It’s easy to vilify someone who gets busted, but simply not getting caught doesn’t mean you aren’t just as guilty as Jones.  

Being young, rich and famous is a recipe for disaster. But it’s not a given. Jon Jones is an intelligent young man with some good people behind him. He just needs to get his head on straight and not succumb to the perilous temptations of money and fame.  

Jones recently plead guilty to the charges and awaits sentencing. Hopefully, he will learn from this youthful transgression and go on to be the great champion that every other indication points to him being.  

A DUI that results in nothing more than an arrest isn’t a life wrecker. Heck, George W. Bush got a DUI at 30 years old and went on to become President. Twice. 

We just need to cut the kid some slack. He made a mistake; a dangerous mistake that could have gotten someone hurt or killed. But he was very lucky. And if he's mature enough to realize that, then he's well on his way to redemption.