Catholic Men Monitoring media in the home

Oct 24, 2011

So much has changed in home entertainment over the past 40 years, a parent may find it difficult keeping up with their children’s consumption of digital entertainment. Yet we must become informed and vigilant for the sake of our home life and our children.

When I was a kid in the 1970s, our family had one television – a 25-inch color Zenith. We didn’t have cable, just three network stations, PBS and three UHF channels. Most stations signed off the air at midnight with the national anthem. Network censors were still at work making sure kids didn’t encounter inappropriate material during daytime and prime time. We couldn’t imagine the massive changes of the next three decades!

By the 1980s cable television had taken over, bringing with it adult channels, premium movie channels and music video channels. Video games came onto the scene, with one more edgy system replacing the other. Together cable TV and video games exposed families to levels of sex and violence never seen before.

By the 1990s, home computers were common and soon we were surfing the web. By then any type of media was accessible to anyone. Network censors had become obsolete. The entertainment that entered our homes reached new depths of depravity with the most extreme forms of violence and hard-core pornography just a click away.

The speed at which these changes came about in home entertainment is dizzying. Today, some parents are rightly concerned about the entertainment their kids are encountering, yet many others are clueless as to what their kids are viewing. Others are unsure of how to protect their children from dangerous media.

Fortunately, there are steps parents can take to protect their kids:

1.Limit screen time: this includes the television, computer, cell phone, iPod, iPad, etc. Any instrument with a screen that can be used for entertainment should be limited in regard to the amount of time it is used.

2. Monitor all internet use. Whether it’s on the computer, cell phone, iPad, tablet, etc., parents need to know what their children are accessing on the internet. For children up to the age of 11, I recommend that parents not allow them to use the internet unsupervised. For teens ages 12 and older, I recommend subscribing to an internet accountability service, such as CovenantEyes.com. This service notifies parents if their teens are accessing inappropriate websites.

3. Monitor what your kids are watching on television. Use devices such as the V-chip to block inappropriate programs and networks. While cable has brought a lot of sinful programming into our homes, it also provides a wide array of good programming. There are many channels that are safe for children and families to watch, such as EWTN, Food Network, ESPN, Sprout, HGTV  and Hallmark Channel.

4. Watch television with your kids. Don’t use it as a babysitter. While letting the kids watch television may give you a few moments of peace, the less time they spend in front of the TV the better it will be for them.

5. Talk to your kids about television and the internet. Explain that while there is a lot of good entertainment out there, there is also a lot of bad stuff. You want protect young children from harmful content and help teens choose healthy content.

6. By 9:00 p.m., all screens should be turned off. Cell phones, iPods, iPads, tablets, and laptop computers should be gathered by parents and locked away. Kids need to know that technology should not rule their lives.

7. Finally, the best advice I can give is to simply turn the television, computer, cell phone, iPad, tablet, etc OFF. Spend time interacting with your kids in healthy ways. Pull out your old board games, read together, play in the back yard, or go for a bike ride. When your kids are grown, they won’t remember the hours watching TV alone or surfing the web. They will, however, remember the times you spent engaging them in fun activities.

I truly believe that the problem of childhood obesity in America comes from a combination of poor diet, little exercise and spending too much time with television, the internet, video games, texting, etc. By limiting screen time, and encouraging healthier activities, we can raise healthier kids. Parents need to set an example by limiting their own screen time and modeling for kids a healthy lifestyle.

Monitoring the media in your home doesn’t have to be difficult or intimidating. By limiting screen time, blocking inappropriate content, talking to your kids about the dangers of television and the internet, and encouraging healthy pursuits away from technology, we can protect our families and raise healthy kids.