Hey, New Prairie parents: Do you know what your kids are listening to?
By Chris Schable
LaPorte Herald-Argus
November 29, 2007
I'll be the
first to admit that I'd rather be run over by a school
bus than drive one full of kids for any length of time.
In my little world, bus drivers are listed in the book,
"Who's Who Among America's Most Patient People."
And while I can't even imagine what it must be like to
rumble through the countryside in a giant yellow brick
on wheels with 30 or 40 elementary school kids screaming
over my shoulder, I can imagine a world that is becoming
more and more commercialized and where the distance
between the playground and the marketplace is becoming
narrower.
Without much fanfare and no public opinion, the New
Prairie School Board approved a proposal earlier this
week to allow BusRadio to be installed in all 38 buses
in the corporation.
BusRadio is a Massachusetts-based company that claims
its programming -- including eight minutes of
advertising per hour -- helps calm children during their
oh-so-stressful ride to school. The station provides
top-40 music, news, contests, safety tips, and
school-oriented material the company claims is "age and
region appropriate."
According to published reports, BusRadio also claims
it's a "behavioral tool" that "is designed specifically
to improve bus safety."
I'm not going to pretend to be the moral compass for
this issue. In fact, I tend to lean toward letting
individuals make their own mistakes in life over telling
someone how to live. You can't legislate morality. I
believe and try my best to live by that motto.
What I will do, however, is caution the parents of New
Prairie students.
For the sake of your children, go online and read up on
this company. Attend the next school board meeting and
ask some tough questions. Demand to see the information
provided by the company to the school and then take that
information and do some research to find out if the
company lives up to its promises and whether those
promises are good for your children.
And most importantly, find out what you gain as a
parent, what your child gains as a customer of BusRadio
and what your school corporation gains by having its
controlled -- but not by the Federal Communications
Commission -- information pumped into school buses and
into the minds of our communities' youth.
I see it all the time in this business. Important,
potentially life-changing issues come up in city
council, county commission and school board meetings,
but residents, and in this case, parents, sit back and
let a handful of officials make decisions on issues that
directly affect their lives.
Then later, when the damage is done, those same people
who weren't paying attention or who chose their bowling
league over the school board meeting or the movie
theater over the city council meeting are outraged at
the effect of the decision while they only have
themselves to blame.
Be proactive on this issue, parents. The board claims
there is no contract, so it's not too late to take a
closer look.
Your kids won't think so, but your involvement would be
the best Christmas gift you can give them this year.
And it won't cost you a dime.