News from the Department of "Duh"

I don't mean to be sarcastic, but its so hard not to be sometimes. Particularly when I come across what I consider to be the blatantly obvious passing as news and information.

Take the February 10th article on recordnet.com written by reporter Keith Reed under the ground breaking headline: Parents Should Spent Time with Teens, Police Say. The article goes on to reveal that "San Joaquin County teen counselors and law officials agree it's a good idea for parents to spend time with their teenagers." Really? No foolin' ... ya' think?

In the article's defense, it does try to be helpful, pointing out that many teenagers don't want to spend time with their parents, and suggesting that finding common interests, such as hobbies or events can help bring the generations closer together. But even after I've thrown the article that bone, I'm still left shaking my head. Have we really come to the point where we need a reporter to tell us that the police and counselors agree that its "a good idea" for parents to spend time with their children?!? I mean, seriously -- when did this stop being common sense?

I guess the truly unfortunate thing is that I really wish I were as surprised by this as I'm pretending to be. Having worked with runaway and homeless youth for as long as I have, however, I'm afraid I'm well aware that simple wisdom like this stopped being common sense for too many parents a long time ago ...