As parents (and teachers), we always hope our kids will behave well when they are out in public—with or without adult supervision. I think my daughter is more or less good on this account. Of course, it hasn’t been truly put to the test since she isn’t able to drive herself (and friends) around. The reason I’m concerned about this is because of our Friday movie night. I took my daughter and her friend to watch Devil’s Due. We noticed a group of five or six high schoolers with a parent waiting to go in as well. They were a slightly boisterous group, but I figured they would calm down once we got in the theater.

I was wrong. They got louder, but at least the parent was able to corral them into one area to sit. Unfortunately, that area was directly behind my girls. Those students kept talking all through the previews until other movie goers were telling them to be quiet. The parent that accompanied them to see the R-rated film had no more authority that a fly in a spider web. After the movie, I asked my daughter and her pal if our school’s students acted like that in public. The sad answer was, “Yeah, more or less.” We know our kids know better—after all, we have taught them, right? It must just be “herd mentality” or maybe the “lowest common denominator.” At any rate, I want my daughter to be better than the average. Is that too much to ask?