I am not necessarily talking about PBS kids, although I'm not sure what their commercials are like, if they push child-related products such as cereal or toys or if their commercials are solely geared toward fund raising and more PBS programs.
Before I get in to the thick of it, let me go back. When Trent and I were married we did not have a lot of money. He was just out of college and I was still in college. Neither of us had a TV and since that was not something we wanted to go in debt for, we did not purchase one. As the years went on, we made a decision not to have a TV in our home. At one point we were given a TV, and also have a VCR and DVD player which allows us to watch a video if we chose to do so.
Now, why did we made the decision not to have a TV? First of all, it is a big "time waster". Once we started having children we realized that we want our time together to actually be together, not just sitting in front of a television. We feel like having an evening together in which we are not spending in front of a TV makes us closer as a couple. We spend our evenings engaged in conversation, often about the children, or parenting, or what Trent is doing at work, what I am doing at home, perhaps about the sermon on Sunday, or a song we heard that was meaningful, an article in World magazine that struck a chord, or something I've read in a Beth Moore study. Other evenings we play a game together after the children are in bed, or do a crossword puzzle. We will often look at facebook together, or visit Kingsway realty's website to check out houses that are for sale. (No, we're not moving, it's just fun to look!)
Another reason I do not want to have TV is because images are powerful. Sure, you may say, "oh, but there are good things on TV, too." And I understand that, BUT there are many terrible things on television as well. For example, we watched the Superbowl. We do enjoy watching football, although the Superbowl is generally the only game we watch each year. However, the commercials were awful. The "Go Daddy" commercials were highly inappropriate as far as the suggestion of nudity. The amount of commercials that showed people hitting other people (with soda cans/logs/etc.) were not appropriate for my little ones to see (ages 3, almost 2, and infant). Anne asked, "why did that guy hit that lady with a big tree?"
Going back to the fact that images are powerful. I want to share a little story from when I was in high school. I went with a friend to another friend's home where there was a group of about 10-12 seniors in high school who were gathered to watch a movie, called "The Ring". I sat through the entire film despite the fact that I felt like it was scary, and the images were rather disturbing. (Mind you, this is before I was even professing Christ as my Savior.) That night I had a bad dream regarding some of the images I saw. To this day, I still have nightmares about that movie.
What does the Bible say about watching movies and TV?
Proverbs 4:23 "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."
Luke 10:27 "He answered: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'""
Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
Ephesians 4:29 "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."
Romans 12:2 "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will."
Exodus 20
The Ten Commandments
1 And God spoke all these words:2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
13 “You shall not murder.
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
15 “You shall not steal.
16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
I could go on, but time does not allow it. If you can watch TV and have it be beneficial to your life, by all means, go ahead and watch it. However, as Christians I truly believe that we are not to conform to the patterns of this world. And while some programs for children are beneficial, I still struggle with what happens when they no longer want to watch "Sesame Street" or other such programs. I can nearly assure you that they are not 14 year old girls still watching and enjoying the same programs on PBS as they did at age 4. Those children have moved on to what the world is telling them is "age appropriate", but often those programs and movies include violence, nudity, and obscene language. I am making a conscious effort NOW, to protect my children's hearts and minds.I highly doubt that any parent who genuinely cared for their child would allow them to eat french fries for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Why should we allow them to fill their minds with trash?
I don't want to sound overly harsh. I do allow my children to watch some portions of old Disney movies on YouTube. However, I find that many of them contain things that are scary. The "step-mother/Queen" in Snow White is horrifying to my 3-year-old. And the hunter is supposed to stab Snow White with a knife. Wait-this is a children's movie?? (We don't watch this anymore.) The children really do enjoy "Berenstain Bears" episodes on the computer. I like that they generally teach a lesson such as counting your blessings, sharing, and being kind. I also like that they are only about 12 minutes long, so they can watch 2 episodes and the kids really felt like they got to watch a lot of movies.
So that is one of my big "Soap Box" issues that I feel strongly about. I'm not saying that it makes parenting easy. It is difficult and tiring to constantly be attentive to three small children (or ANY small children). However, I'm praying that if I do the difficult work NOW, that I will reap the benefits as they get older and need to make hard choices on their own. I am hopeful that as Scripture promises in Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. "
Sorry that this got so long. It's not a soap box issue for nothing. But look at my precious children, look at your precious children. Don't they deserve the very best?
"Abigail, the Diligent"
