I play basketball in a league that uses public high school gyms all over the city.

Normally, the only thing I notice is how crappy the condition of each school is. (How can a gym not have a working water fountain?)

Last week, I noticed a 2nd grade art exhibit on the walls called “Music Is . . .” The teacher obviously asked the kids to draw a picture finishing that sentence.

Here are a couple of the drawings:

What you’d expect, right?  Music is expressive, sweet, coolio, etc.

Here’s another one . . . and I think you’ll see why this one jumped off the wall and practically punched me in the face.

Music is . . . LimeWire.

Now there’s something I’d bet not one of us would have answered when we were in school.

For those of you who don’t know what LimeWire is . . . it’s online peer-to-peer sharing software that allows users all over the world to trade music, movies, etc. It’s the type of service that has gotten the record and movie industries all wired up over the past decade.

And now, this is what some kids think “Music is . . . ”

That begs the question . . . What is this kid going to expect from his entertainment when he is 20 . . . 30 . . . 40?

I’m not sure, but you can bet he’s not going to expect to pay a lot for it . . . unless it’s truly exceptional.

Music, movies, theater . . . they aren’t going anywhere.  But people are going to expect a lot more from their entertainment than ever before.

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When I went to my fifth gym that didn’t have a working water fountain, the NYC public schools went on my list of charities that I support.  Seems odd to support a government-run institution, I know . . . but we could yell and scream about how our government doesn’t do enough . . . and the kids will continue to suffer while we’re yelling and screaming, or we could just do something about it.

If you want to help NYC public schools, click here.