By Mark Scott, executive director of Market MontGOmery Chamber & Tourism • We willfully stand in line for dinner or a movie assuming it is going to bring us pleasure when we are finished. We willfully get a flu shot hoping it will keep us from getting sick. We go to the dentist hoping to avoid more pain down the road. But it seems like going back to school for most children is a bigger pain than any of the above. Can that be changed?
Let us look at how things are presented in our lives. Drug commercials show the actors happy as clams with a message that taking their drug may relieve what ails them … along with the possibility of drowsiness, dizziness, irritability, nausea and a host of other things. We overlook the bad as we cling to the dream of being cured.
Chewing this gum will give you fresh breath and help in your job interview; drinking this energy drink will give you wings. We know those things are not literally true but we like the thought of fresh breath and getting a promotion. We love the thought of having energy as we go through the daily rat race.
Commercials go over the top but perhaps we can take something from their approach toward engaging our imagination as to just how good we can be by using their product.
With the new Montgomery County central high school on the way, perhaps we should let children know school is part of the process to becoming whatever they want to be when they grow up. Some of the things they study and learn may not help in the future but it is all part of the process to become a well-rounded person and a fireman, doctor, pilot, police officer, teacher, etc.
Most athletes do not like doing situps, pushups or running drills but it is part of the process. Those who go to higher levels in sports learn to enjoy the process.
What if we package school like products in commercials? Maybe students will willfully go, clinging to the hope it will give them wings, as in becoming a pilot; give them fresh breath and help them land their dream job; or help them become a scientist who can produce drugs that cure things without causing drowsiness, dizziness and irritability.
Appeal to their imagination to help them enjoy the process!