More nitpicking...

[J.R.]

Here's another cliche: Whenever the kids tell their parents about the  monster/alien/serial killer/what have you, one of the parents, usually the mother, feels the kid's head and says, "He/She doesn't have a fever." Did they just graduate from parenting school? When a kid won't shut up about some creature or something you just tell them they're wrong and ignore them. If it goes on awhile, you belt them in the face to teach them respect. Maybe that's just my parents. Anywho, parents in horror movies are always written totally unrealistically.

[Funk, E.]

What I find amazing is how the parents frequently remain completely ignorent of what's going on even when the body count starts to mount up

[Flangepart]

And, of corse, theres the Janitorial staff that hear some weird goings on, and suddenly get the urge to play mall cop. Investigate? Heck no, thats what security gets paid for. Its not my job! If that weird breathing sound is comming from the locker the fat kids body was found stuffed in, i wait till morning and a hall way full of witnesses!Funk, E. wrote:
>
> What I find amazing is how the parents frequently
> remain completely ignorent of what's going on even when the
> body count starts to mount up

[AndyC]

Kids know best - a philosophy you'll see in a lot of movies and TV shows. The parents are some busy, self-absorbed, dimwitted, narrowminded, ignorant or some combination of the above, and it's up to the enlightened kids to save the day and possibly even teach their foolish elders a lesson. And we wonder why there are a lot of messed up kids around.

[BlackAngel]

Let's not gloss over the fact that, in addition to the parents acting like ignorant, tightwad-a***oles, it always seeme that the only "cool" parent authority in the tv family is the grandparents.  When a kid asks his/her mom or dad (mostly the mom) for a cookie or ice cream, the parent says "no it will ruin your appitite." then walks off.  Then one of the grandparents walk in a gives the kid a cookie anyway.  Or a kid ask for more money, the parents would say I gave you money yesterday.  But behide the parents' back, the grandparents slips the kid an extra $20 for good measure.