Just when you thought you've seen everything, along comes this story. A university professor has studied how much attention parents give to attractive and unattractive children. According to Dr. Andrew Harrell of the University of Alberta, parents of two to five year olds were secretly observed at a supermarket to see whether or not they buckle their child into the shopping cart, and also to see if they allow the child to wander off more than ten feet away. Dr. Harrell discovered that attractive children are more likely to be buckled in, and less likely to be allowed to wander off. Therefore, he concludes, parents pay closer attention to more attractive children.

How frightening is this report? Let me count the ways. First of all, we must wonder if this is a good use of research dollars. One can only wonder what worthy projects were unfunded so that Dr. Harrell could spy on parents in the supermarket. Second of all, this study promotes the misguided value of our society that wrongly favors outward appearance over inner beauty.

Thank God we know better, and God willing the parents we know would defy Dr. Harrell's findings. In Proverbs 31, also known as eishet chayil, we are taught: sheker hachen v'hevel hayofi--Charm is a lie, beauty is vain, but a God fearing woman is to be praised. In Pirke Avot, we are advised: al tistakel b'kanan--Don't look at the container, but rather at what's inside.

We certainly hope that Jewish parents, if not all parents, would be teaching their children the qualities of inner beauty, in other words, rewarding the child who acts like a mensch!

My third concern about Dr. Harrell's findings is that parents actually sacrifice safety in the name of attractiveness. It would be bad enough if the less attractive child received the "short end" in terms of material gifts or play time. It's hard to accept that a parent would be more likely to put such a child in real danger. Which brings me to my final concern about this study. Dr. Harrell's conclusion is based on the fact that only 1.2% of the least attractive children (and by what criteria, one can only imagine, did Dr. Harrell's research team determine what "unattractive" means) were buckled into the shopping cart, compared to 13.3% of the "attractive" children.

Think about that. Success is defined by 13.3%. 86.7% of the so called "attractive" children are not buckled in. We've got a generation of parents who aren't paying close enough attention to the safety of any of their children. If 13.3% is meant to be a positive number, then we're all in trouble.

Dr. Harrell's study makes me think about other troubling statistics, such as those describing the observance of Conservative Jews. In a study from ten years ago, Dr. Jack Wertheimer shows that Conservative Jews who send their children to Day School have a higher rate of observance than others. For example, 24% of Day School parents keep kosher outside of the home, compared to only 10% of non-Day School parents. On one hand, 24% is better than 10%, but 24% is like the 13.3% of attractive children buckled into shopping carts.