On The Mark -- Enough Is Enough

I've already started an "Hypocrisy Decade" running column, so it made sense to start another one: Enough Is Enough.

The first entry is from an article I read in today's Wall Street Journal. You think satellite radio is the hip thing? Forget about it. Today's article featured how SUVs will be equipped with satellite dishes so that one can watch television programming or movies. I'm all for new technology, and bless all those early adopters, but enough is enough. We're dumbing down our kids enough right now as it is. Heck, we're dumbing down everybody.

Let your kids sit in the back seat and gaze out the window and use their imaginations. Let them ignite their creative juices vs. having creativity constantly shoved in their faces so they don't have to think.

I still think about the days when my family took long car trips and I got completely lost in the back seat reading a book or a comic book. And I had two feisty sisters sitting next to me, so the excuse that a satellite (or DVD for that matter) is the only way to keep the rowdy kids under control is not legitimate. The three of us kids knew the consequences as a result of fighting in the car.

Plus, it's hard enough trying to figure out how to use the remote while sitting in an arm chair, let alone a moving vehicle. Then you have the fights because one kid wants to watch cartoons and the other wants to watch the Gilmore Girls, so you're really getting duped.