10 Days left

From my ever witty husband this morning: book title suggestion:

"Chicken Soup for the Soul that Actually Just Wants Beef Soup"

Also- there was a Great and Very Humorous Nate's Black Dress Socks/ Neb's Black Knee-highs ("Knee-hi's"?) Mix-up Incident yesterday in which my husband was heard struggling with his footwear and then exclaiming, "What are these little FLOWERS on my socks!?!?"

From some edition of the New York Times that I won't bother linking to because it's too much effort: New York City schools are actually beginning to enforce the "no cell phones" policy that many have on the books, and parents are outraged. "My daugther calls me when she gets on the subway in the morning, when she gets off the subway, on her lunch hour, when she leaves school, and when she makes it home. Otherwise, how will I know that she's safe throughout the day??" "Sending a child to school in NYC is unimaginable without a cell phone."

I understand these parents' point of view, but it makes me wonder- have schools gotten SO much less safe in the past 10 years? Ten years ago very few kids went to school WITH cell phones because they simply weren't as widespread back then. (Okay, time check- make that 15 years ago...? I don't know exactly when NYC culture was Taken Over, but my point is that sometime in the not too distant past- i.e., when the city's crime rates probably weren't much different- kids were going to school without cell phones, and parents seemed to cope with it.) My Inner Statistician wants to conduct a Study to find out- have rates of child abduction decreased since cells phones became popular? Are they really making a difference, or do parents just FEEL safer...? Again, I can certainly imagine that if I were a parent, those carefully scheduled calls would be rather comforting- but, really, let's think about what would happen if something WERE happening to the kid. To me it seems unlikely that a kid is going to get kidnapped and then be allowed to use the cell phone to call for help. So the only way a parent would know something is wrong would likely be the next scheduled call that was missed. Now, if a child fails to call when exiting the subway on the way to school, does that event occur very long before the child being missed by school officials and having parents notified? (I'm assuming that the school in question actually notifies parents promptly when a student is absent, which is probably somewhat justified for Preppy Rich Kid Schools but probably not a good assumption for Poor Kid Schools.) So really, the parents may not have gained much lead time in notifying the police or doing whatever they need to do to investigate. (Which raises another question- if a frantic parent called NYC police and said "Johnny is supposed to call me a 8:03 am ON THE DOT and it is now 8:10, he's been kidnapped, I know it! I know it!" What would NYC police do? Immediately send a police car to Johnny's last known whereabouts? Somehow I kind of doubt it. They'd probably say "let's wait and see if he shows up at school on time" and then the cell phone really hasn't gained us anything.)

And another good question would be, how have cell phones changed the choices we make about our lives? The article mentioned something about the "necessity" of cell phones in lives that now include more and more extracurricular activities, longer distances to work and school, etc. So, hypothetically, let's say that it's 2006 and no such technology exists. The cell phone has Never Been Born. What kinds of choices are parents making (urban, or otherwise?) Are they choosing schools for their kids with shorter commutes? Are they trying harder to live close to the schools they want their children to attend? Perhaps fewer after-school activities and more time simply at home (where mom and dad know they're "safe"?) Are they giving their kids pepper spray or other personal safety items for the trip to school? Or are they just, to use a phrase long dead after the 80's, "taking a chill pill" and sending their kids out into the world everyday *without* a way to keep in constant contact, trusting that they'll be alright? I really don't know, but I think it's interesting to wonder.