I love the Discovery Health channel. Its real-life stories are as alluring as People magazine, but they are presented in a documentary style that is educational. I feel my compassion and understanding grow as I watch the stories of how people on this planet succeed against great odds. There's the guy whose limbs grow like tree trunks. The tiny legless woman who defied the odds and had a child. The itty bitty primordial dwarves who are miniscule, yet go to preschool, and grow up to drive cars and in general, get on with their lives. It's inspirational.

Dave doesn't quite agree. Why just last night I had to change the channel, during "Human Face Transplant", because Dave came in the room. He doesn't share my inspirational outlook. He feels like I am being voyeuristic. He argues that these nightly programs give the impression that these unusual cases are usual. (Ironically, this is why I like these shows. We are all human, right? Therefore, more unites us than divides us. I want the unusual to be usual. I want to understand.)

But now my beloved Discovery Health has crossed the line. I have seen advertisements for their new show called "What If?" Here's the premise. Typical human beings are asked to do extraordinary things to see if they would be able to save a loved one during a tragedy. For instance, "What If your child was drowning? Could you swim 100 yards to save her?" Or "What If your husband was stuck under a car? Could you lift it and save his life?"

The commercials show the devastated participants who have failed in their tasks to "save" their loved ones. (This is a test, this is only a test!) They are sobbing, "I couldn't save him. I couldn't do it!" Yet it's a very imperfect test, of course. Studies have shown that when the need arises, when the crisis is real, God grants superhuman strength and adrenalin and ordinary people can literally move mountains.

I don't like the premise of the show. I think that it plants seeds of fear in the heart of men and women. Just the commercials attempt to do that. "What if?" Our minds start whirling off on all the horrifying possibilities. By the power of suggestion, we can be in a full-blown anxiety attack before the 30 second commercial is over.

Planting seeds of fear and doubt. This technique is as old as the serpent in the garden. His strategy was to plant doubt. His end game was to have the humans expelled from the Garden of Eden. He succeeded.

Guys, let's be careful. Let's not watch things that we call "entertainment" and allow seeds of fear, doubt, and despair to plant in us. Perhaps for you, this is watching the Nightly News. Perhaps it's reading the Stock Index. Perhaps it's something from the library, or on the radio station you always listen to. Perhaps it's on Discovery Health.

1 Peter 5:7-9
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith."

Sometimes resisting him might mean turning off the TV.

Back in the seventies and eighties, when I was in school, kids did their own homework and parents watched the evening news while enjoying adult conversation, a cocktail and a bowl of dry roasted peanuts. As a teen I never dreamed of asking my parents to help me make a paper mache' volcano that actually erupted. Instead, I made projects the old-fashioned way: with supplies found around the house or yard. We didn't have a craft drawer in our kitchen or a supply of Modge Podge in the cupboard. We didn't have 12 cans of metalic spray paint or flexible tubing in the garage. We had hangers, newspapers, and imagination. In short, we just made it work.

That was then, this is now. As a parent, I have found to my horror that these days, parents are considered something like co-students. It took me several years of Back to School Night before I caught on. At first, I just thought that the science projects on display indicated that the students at our school were extraordinarily gifted. "I can't believe that a child made this Composter and Garden Fertilizer from his Erector set!" They didn't.

As a traditionalist, I refused to help my kids. For years they suffered under my Sink or Swim regime. Last year, I did concede that there was a pressing need for poster board in our home. I bought it in bulk. Unfortunately, instead of using it for school, my girls started hosting lemonade stands with lovely handmade advertisements. My favorite was when their sign read "Ice Cold Water." They made $11.75. I applauded their Yankee ingenuity.

As a longtime parent to a lot of kids, I agree with Solomon in the Bible. There really is "nothing new under the sun." Life with my fifth 5th grader is like watching the movie Groundhog Day. It's the one where Bill Murray is forced to relive the same day, over and over again. Been there, done that. Ask me anything. Mountain ranges in the United States? Check. Spelling Words? Yawn. Life cycle of a butterfly? Snore. Now I'm not in any way implying that I am Smarter than a Fifth Grader. I'm just saying that this is my SIXTH TIME through the grade. I ought to know my way around by now.

Now, my high school students are way too cool to ask for my help, or even pause for a second to listen to my sage advice. Yet having seen some Killer Projects in my day, I am compelled to make some suggestions. Oddly, they are unimpressed. In fact, they run for the hills when they have a project involving sales or marketing. With my background in advertising, I can't let an opportunity like that pass. If they want to run for Student Government, I want to come up with the world's best slogans. These children of mine reject all my awesome ideas. "But I won a Clio for Excellence in Advertising!" I say, as I chase them around with my list of clever headlines.

To help, or not to help? That is the question. Clearly by the time our kids are teens, they should be doing most things independently. My goal is that by age 18 they can balance a checking account, pre-treat laundry stains and complete all of their own schoolwork. Yet the competitive nature of college admission, coupled with a big dose of "What is everyone else doing?" makes even the most reluctant parent uneasy. In my home the question "Have you finished your homework?" is repeated so often that I'm thinking of recording it on microchip so I can avoid straining my voice. When my kids say yes, I follow that up with the clincher: "Have you done everything you can to be a successful student today?" This question rarely garners a yes response; instead the teens grit their teeth and storm to their rooms to listen to their iPods.

Recently Julia, my gorgeous 5th grader, had a volcano project assigned. Guys, I couldn't help myself. I bought tissue paper, got out the Modge Podge, and jumped right in. It's going to actually explode when yeast is added to a water bottle filled with peroxide and get this: the foam will be red! We used the paint that is stored in the craft drawer in the kitchen. I guess I've become a softie in my old age. I hope we, er, I mean SHE, gets an A.

Wanting a triumphant Warrior King, they were presented with the Prince of Peace instead.