Momma Sandy Says - Cartoons, Books, TV, Movies, Music, and Gaming, Oh my!

Momma Sandy Says

Cartoons, Books, TV, Movies, Music, and Gaming.  Oh My!

   There is so much media out there!  How does a parent limit their child's exposure to the bad stuff when there is so much?  I worked out a few things for my own kids.  Of course remember, when they were little the latest thing in telephones was a cordless phone.  And the original Game Boy was the newest thing!  I've spent some time thinking about how I would do it now and here it is.

Cartoons:  The first real training in choices came with cartoons.  Back then, the new Saturday morning cartoons premiered in September.  I would force myself up and I would watch the new shows with my kids.  After each show was over we'd talk about them.  We'd hit the following topics:

1  Did they enjoy the show?  Was there anything about it that bothered them?

2.  Was the level of violence acceptable? (I have a low tolerance for useless violence)

3.  Was the use of drugs or alcohol glorified?

4.  Were women treated properly?  How about other people groups?  Any bullying?

5.  Was evil portrayed as being ok or even good?  Was being a Christian downgraded?

6.  Was the language offensive?

Put in language my kids could understand, these were my red flags.  A show free of red flags was ones my kids could watch.  The red flagged shows we discussed.  Unless it was really bad, I did not forbid my kids to watch the RF shows.  I discouraged them.  But I left the choice up to them.  And usually they would choose against the RF shows.  It was a system that worked.

Books:  Once my kids were old enough to read on their own I started a system similar to what we used for cartoons.  I've read a lot of children's and YA books to keep track of trends.  For my kids not a lot of problems with books.  The issue for us was that my kids could read at levels beyond their school years and sometimes encountered stuff that was a bit adult for them.

   There is a trend in current YA and even children's literature dealing with can be called the occult.  The idea is that magic is real and kids like them can use it - for good or evil.  I don't have a real problem with the Harry Potter series.  The lines are pretty clearly drawn between good and evil and there are no religious undertones.  But there are popular series' out there that promote other religious pantheons.  If that's your belief system, hooray, you have books favorable to your beliefs.  But for someone in a Judeo-Christian belief system they're problematic.  My recommendation would be to discourage books that are anti your belief system.

   Let's take a moment for some reality here.  Despite all your best efforts, your children are going to be exposed to stuff you don't want them to.  It's just a fact.  Your job is to equip them on how to respond to the not so good stuff. 

TV:  Similar principle as to cartoons.  If you can, watch the debuts of the new shows with your kids.  Do your research about the new shows.  Are there going to be any red flags?  Talk to your kids about the shows afterwards.  What did they think?  Also, remember even the tv news can input bad stuff into your kids.

Movies:  There are movie rating systems for a reason.  Little kids should not be going to movies with an excessive amount of violence.  Do we really want to desensitize our children to violence?  Are they able to tell the difference between reality and fantasy?  We have to teach them, and sometimes we have to protect them.

   Personally I think exposing children to sexually explicit material before they're ready is a bad idea. It will probably happen anyway.  How many of us saw Playboy before we understood what it was about?  We have to be ready to explain.  And to teach our children that dehumanizing anyone is bad.

   The same general red flag system here.  Do your research so you know what to ask when your children want to go to certain movies.  It's ok to say no.

Music:  I do not believe there is inherently evil music.  But I also believe that music can be used in many ways.  So I altered my basic red flags.

1.  What do the lyrics say?  Are there any of the red flags we look for in other genres?  Glorification of drugs and alcohol? Degradation of women (rap can be especially bad with this) and prejudice in general?  Promotion of violence?  Occult themes?  How's the language?  What are the lyrics encouraging?  These are big red flags.  I can live with the language (though not happily), but the other stuff-not!

 2.  How do the musicians promote themselves?  Waving guns around on cd covers?  Sponsored by alcohol companies?  All red flags.

3.  This is an age of u tube and music videos.  How do the musicians perform these songs?  If there's a big "Hail Satan" on stage, not interested at all, etc.

4.  This one takes a bit of research.  What are the musicians like off stage?  Are they decent people?  Are they rude and selfish?  Drug addicts?  I am happy to report that my son, as an adult met some of the members of one of the bands he liked.  Turns out they were selfish and rude.  He's no longer a fan.

Gaming whether computer, live action role play, or D&D type is such a huge topic I think I'll post pone it for next week.

   The big point I want to make with this blog is that you, as a parent are responsible to overseeing what media stuff your kids put into themselves.  Involve them in the process of deciding what is good and not and it will be easier.  If you forbid something, the kid will do it.  If you help them to decide not to, the odds lessen.

   Good luck!