The media exerts a major influence on today’s children, and unfortunately it is not a harmless influence. It is negative in its impact, with a severity that can truly be described as harmful and dangerous. If you have children in your family, you need to take note of the danger the media poses to them. You also need to take decisive action to see that you and your family do not discover too late that you are a victim. With this alert duly noted, we urge you to consider with full attention the following recommendations:
1. Spend time with your children every day. Be sure to include some household chores, some play time, and some time tutoring, perhaps in the form of Bible reading, prayer at bedtime, homework, and one-on-one talking. There is no acceptable substitute for your investment of time with your children.
2. Limit television time. Do radical surgery on this. It may be best to videotape what you want to watch and look at it later. This way you pick what you watch and when you watch it. You can also fast forward through commercials and see it in much less time. The children should never have unsupervised liberty to pick and choose television viewing for themselves.
3. Keep a handle on the computer. Children should not have private computer access (as in their bedrooms). You should check the log once a week to see what activity has been on that computer. Social networking web sites are also a major source of trouble.
4. Video games are also a danger! They can absorb lots of time, but they also can be sources of high-volume content of both sex and violence. Know what you are getting and then use it judiciously. MP3 players offer a level of privacy that children and teens may enjoy, but it should not be without oversight and accountability.
5. Monitor Cell phone usage because they are also capable of delivering unwanted material, and text messaging can become addictive, time consuming, and totally unproductive.
6. Parents must parent! Don’t be afraid to be the authority. Your children need you and your leadership. Get the parent issue settled first. You can be friends with them later. Values need to be transferred from parent to child. It takes lots of time and a spirited effort, but it is a necessary stewardship that God has entrusted to parents. Our children and teens need to be engaged in family things, as well as church and school activities. Talking with our children about who our family is and what we believe about everything is a must.
7. Live consistently in front of your children. What you say you believe will go a long way toward keeping them in harmony with you. What you say and do at church on Sunday ought to be the same thing you say and do in the privacy of your home Monday through Saturday. If you put on a spiritual facade when you go to church, your children will disrespect you, and major grief is most likely on the way.
8. Seek the counsel of your pastor as you seek to get your house in order.
9. Get good books in the house and encourage everyone to listen to or read them for themselves!
10. Don’t become so radical in your attitude and your demeanor that you anger your family. A spiritually reasonable approach is necessary. If you all of a sudden restrict or replace something to which your family has already grown accustomed, then be prepared to fill that void with an acceptable alternative.
11. Tell everybody in the house, "I love you!" Say it often, and be warm and affectionate when you say it.
In Proverbs 22:6 we read, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." To train means to teach, protect, guide and instruct by example. Sometime read the book of Proverbs chapters 1- 7 and check out how many times the phrase "My Son" is used. As you read the above, take heed to the words of the Apostle Paul in II Timothy 3: 13-17, "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. (14) But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; (15) And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."
The enemies of faith, family and freedom are powerful, ruthless and highly motivated. If you, dear parent, do not get a grip on the reality of the situation and take appropriate, aggressive action, these devils will steal the attention and the affection of your children. Even if you do everything you should do, the risks are not totally eliminated. Dangers are lurking everywhere all the time. Vigilance and diligence are unceasingly necessary. With such a clear and present danger as that posed by today’s media, inattention and inaction are simply not acceptable. The media can strike with deadly force. Your children deserve to have the benefit of your leadership and your protection.
In His Amazing Grace,
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