...When All is Said and Dunn

In this year's political climate what is becoming the hot button topic? Education, welfare, the environment, health care? No, it's about the content of what's in movie trailers and how it is marketed to children and teenagers. A cause that every parent should be concerned about, but not something that John McCain and his Rat Pack on Capitol Hill should be sticking their noses in to. The hysteria he is whipping up reminds me of that other famous Hollywood villain with the same initials, Joe McCarthy.

In my humble opinion this is a topic that is better served in the home. Artistic freedom is something that is better left in the hands of artists, not lawyers and politicians. Art, in all forms, is something you can walk away from or turn off. It is subjective and in the eye of the beholder. The fact that the lead story on the evening news was about John McCain and his thugs attempting to control what movie trailers should be shown, and not about something much more important like the insanely high cost of prescription drugs is ludicrous.

So regardless of how persuasive the ad campaign may be, it is up to us as parents to make the call as to what our children watch at the movies, view on TV, or which art exhibit to see. No matter how much whining is thrust your way. You just have to use common sense. If the art show you are considering taking your family to is a photo gallery of autopsy photos, you may want to think twice, despite what the review in the LA Times says.

As with everything else in our children's lives, they learn by example. As parents, we are the ones who our children look up to and attempt to emulate. Our actions, and how we deal with people we come in contact with, are what they learn from. What we allow them to watch is a personal decision that a parent makes based on the knowledge of their child, not on an edict given to the motion picture industry by ex-presidential hopefuls and future ones.

If your day starts anything like mine, you are in your car and the kids are with you. Every morning we approach the greatest test of patience any parent must endure, the dreaded, the evil, school drop off zone. At no other time are your children watching you closer than when you are dealing with some of the most mindless actions that any one human being should ever have to bear.

The factors can be amplified if you have one of the following to deal with, (1) a four way stop, (2) a new crossing guard, (3) people who don't understand the concept of a drop off zone and (4) people who just don't understand basic traffic laws. Unfortunately I don't have just one or two of these factors to deal with, I am one of those doomed souls who face all four. And every morning has become the drive of the damned.

At this point in time my 9 year old and 11 year old have a better grip on all of the above than 50% of the participants in this dance of terror. They know which driver has come to the four way stop first and who should go first. It's not rocket science people, it is one of the most simple and basic traffic laws. My guess is that most of these drivers don't know that because they don't have a valid driver's license. What a great lesson these parents are teaching their children. It's O.K. to drive without a license.

Now, since I am dropping off my kids at school, I am thinking as I watch crossing guards who obviously don't know what they're doing, isn't there some sort of crossing guard school? I mean if not a school, how about a class? A book or cassette? Something! After all, these people are attempting to direct traffic that is carrying children. They are guiding kids on foot across the street in front of people who don't seem to care about anything other than their own personal agendas. They need some sort of instruction before slapping on that neon orange vest and picking up their stop signs.

The next one, the drop off zone. I am so completely sick of complaining about it, but it never seems to get any better. What is mind boggling to me is that it is the same people that do it year after year. The same ones that got out of their cars last year are the same ones this year. The same ones who cut you off while you are trying to pull in to the drop off are the same. The ones who think that the drop off zone is a good place to have a discussion on the agenda for the day are the same.

What these parents are teaching their children is far worse than anything that they would see in an R rated movie. It is teaching them to be (a) rude, (b) to show a complete disregard for the time of others, (c) patience is not a virtue and (d) that nobody matters but them. All the things that I find more vile than the pretend violence of a movie.

These things would be easy for me to adopt if I hadn't been blessed with a conscious and a desire to raise my kids with one. I'm sure that they wouldn't mind if I joined their ranks. Misery loves company.

But I always remember what Groucho Marx once said: “I wouldn't want to join any club that would have me for a member.”