Should parents be required to revisit their high school years? My initial reaction reveals my uber-geeky nature: "Sounds fun!" But I might feel differently if actually forced to do this...-Erika

Today's New York Times had an interesting article about a teacher who assigns homework to the parents of his high school English students. They are expected to write essays on the same topics their kids are studying. If they don't comply, their kid's grade suffers.

The point, he said, is to keep parents involved in their children's ' education well into high school. Studies have shown that parental involvement improves the quality of the education a student receives, but teenagers seldom invite that involvement. So, Mr. Frye said, he decided to help out.

''Parents complain about never getting to see their kids' work,'' he said. ''Now they have to.''

Some parents, he added, seem happy to revisit their high school years.

''There was one parent last year who would write pages and pages of stuff. It was great, so good to read,'' said Mr. Frye, who graduated from Montclair High in 1994.

Others are more resistant. ''When my daughter told me about the homework, I looked at her and said, 'You've got to be kidding me. I graduated. I'm done,''' said Lydia Bishop, a local real estate broker whose daughter Vanessa was in Mr. Frye's class last year. ''I did it very resentfully, but I did it.''