The national Parent Teachers Association has been running ads for more than a year now trying to get parents more involved in the lives of their children. One ad features former NBA basketball All-Star Charles Barkley asking parents if they know his nickname. And most sports fans know that he was called "The Round Mound of Rebound." Then he asks parents if they know their children's principals nickname.
In another ad, actor Luke Perry asks parents if they can name three characters that his character ate lunch with regularly on the hit television show Beverly Hills 90210. And fans of the show can easily name Brenda, Brandon, Kelly, and others. (Yes, I watched the show in the early 90's.) Then he asks parents if they can name three students that their own children hang out with in the lunch room.
While I think that government schools are already way too nosey, and at times portray a sense of arrogance in regards to what is best for students, I like this effort by the PTA. The rather direct questions in these ads will hopefully cause all of us to think about how much time we spend being entertained by people we don't know. Most of us follow the lives of fictional characters on television on a weekly basis. We get to know their mannerisms, their weaknesses, their family problems, and many other intricate details about their lives. But yet, our neighbors are complete strangers—barely acknowledged with just an occasion wave or head nod.
I'm certainly guilty of it. For a long time, whenever I needed someone to feed my cat when I traveled, I would ask a relative—most of whom live at least five miles away from me—to come over and feed her. Before I left on my last trip, I decided that it was time to visit the couple who lives next door to me. They invited me in, we had a nice hour-long discussion, and I learned a little about their daily routines. Of course, they were happy to feed my cat. While I was gone, the man noticed that the lock on my front door didn't work properly so he fixed it. How cool is that? I don't know the couple next door yet as well as I know many characters on television, but it's a start.
