Author's Note: Sorry it took so long for my second post. I misplaced my password and then my modem died. One week without the internet showed me just how much I relied on looking things up. Glad to be back at it.
TV isn't safe for young children to watch without a parent in the room. You might be ready to click over to another website right about now. STAY WITH ME. I'm not an extremist and I do realize I live in the world and not apart from it. Truth be told, I probably have too many televisions in my house. And there are a few shows I like that really make me laugh. I probably never miss a Colts game unless I'm at church service, although I've slept through a lot of the games this season.
Let me relate just a little story about what happened this morning. I was sitting on the couch waiting for my first attempt at Monkey Bread to cook in the over. So, 25 minutes until cinnamon and butter bliss. So, with J on my lap, I turned the television on to the Qubo channel. That's got to be the coolest kid's station. The cartoons don't represent adults as idiots waiting to be corrected by their children. They teach good moral values in many of the shows. And if you find yourself up late at night and can't sleep you will be rewarded with old episodes of He-Man. Boy, He-Man is really lame when you're an adult. And why doesn't he put on some pants. It reminds me of the Saturday Night Live Fun House skit, The Ambiguously Gay Duo. Seriously, shaggy underwear bikini pants. That's the height of fashion on other planets?
Well, we're watching Jane and the Dragon when it goes to commercial. Usually this is the time my kids start shopping for the toys that are advertised (today it was the blanket puppet???). But this time the commercial was for some weight loss product. My girls sat and watched as one woman after another promoted a weight loss patch guaranteed to make you thin, beautiful, more employable (seriously), and stronger. It's was the fountain of vanity. My brain was thinking quickly about whether to mute it or turn the channel.
At the end of the commercial weight loss commercial a grandma says "Now I'm beautiful!" J looked at the television and said "Of course she's beautiful. Daddy, she's already beautiful. She doesn't need that." Out of the mouth of babes. A marketing expert somewhere just got smacked down. A six year old blew up his ad campaign!
But that's just a microcosm of what's on television. Count on one hand the commercials that sell their product and don't use sex. Local car commercials are about the only ones that don't use that method, instead going for loud and obnoxious voiceovers. I honestly saw a commercial the other day that used sex to sell butter. Butter! How dumb have we gotten? Marketers have adults pegged, but my six year old saw right through it. That old lady was pretty without the patch.
We've just got to use common sense and remember what God's Word tells us. Fathers, it's our job to monitor these things in our home and lead. LEAD! I'm big on that for future note. Let's be aware of what's going into our kids’ eyes and ears. No, we can't keep them from everything. Nor should we try. But the principles are there for us to use, so let's use them.
Deuteronomy 7:26 Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Utterly abhor and detest it, for it is set apart for destruction.
Psalm 101:2-3 ... I will set before my eyes no vile thing. ...
Alternate Idea: Buy some movies you watched as a kid, or go rent a movie from the library. Pop some popcorn and have a movie night. Set aside one night a week to sit together and enjoy television. Use it as a tool to bring your family together. Don’t use it to babysit your kids or let yourself zone out. Good luck!
TV isn't safe for young children to watch without a parent in the room. You might be ready to click over to another website right about now. STAY WITH ME. I'm not an extremist and I do realize I live in the world and not apart from it. Truth be told, I probably have too many televisions in my house. And there are a few shows I like that really make me laugh. I probably never miss a Colts game unless I'm at church service, although I've slept through a lot of the games this season.
Let me relate just a little story about what happened this morning. I was sitting on the couch waiting for my first attempt at Monkey Bread to cook in the over. So, 25 minutes until cinnamon and butter bliss. So, with J on my lap, I turned the television on to the Qubo channel. That's got to be the coolest kid's station. The cartoons don't represent adults as idiots waiting to be corrected by their children. They teach good moral values in many of the shows. And if you find yourself up late at night and can't sleep you will be rewarded with old episodes of He-Man. Boy, He-Man is really lame when you're an adult. And why doesn't he put on some pants. It reminds me of the Saturday Night Live Fun House skit, The Ambiguously Gay Duo. Seriously, shaggy underwear bikini pants. That's the height of fashion on other planets?
Well, we're watching Jane and the Dragon when it goes to commercial. Usually this is the time my kids start shopping for the toys that are advertised (today it was the blanket puppet???). But this time the commercial was for some weight loss product. My girls sat and watched as one woman after another promoted a weight loss patch guaranteed to make you thin, beautiful, more employable (seriously), and stronger. It's was the fountain of vanity. My brain was thinking quickly about whether to mute it or turn the channel.
At the end of the commercial weight loss commercial a grandma says "Now I'm beautiful!" J looked at the television and said "Of course she's beautiful. Daddy, she's already beautiful. She doesn't need that." Out of the mouth of babes. A marketing expert somewhere just got smacked down. A six year old blew up his ad campaign!
But that's just a microcosm of what's on television. Count on one hand the commercials that sell their product and don't use sex. Local car commercials are about the only ones that don't use that method, instead going for loud and obnoxious voiceovers. I honestly saw a commercial the other day that used sex to sell butter. Butter! How dumb have we gotten? Marketers have adults pegged, but my six year old saw right through it. That old lady was pretty without the patch.
We've just got to use common sense and remember what God's Word tells us. Fathers, it's our job to monitor these things in our home and lead. LEAD! I'm big on that for future note. Let's be aware of what's going into our kids’ eyes and ears. No, we can't keep them from everything. Nor should we try. But the principles are there for us to use, so let's use them.
Deuteronomy 7:26 Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Utterly abhor and detest it, for it is set apart for destruction.
Psalm 101:2-3 ... I will set before my eyes no vile thing. ...
Alternate Idea: Buy some movies you watched as a kid, or go rent a movie from the library. Pop some popcorn and have a movie night. Set aside one night a week to sit together and enjoy television. Use it as a tool to bring your family together. Don’t use it to babysit your kids or let yourself zone out. Good luck!
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