Parenting
and the Media
There are many different aspects on this topic such
as: What impact do media have on family
life and family interactions? What impact do media have on children? How can parents and others influence these
media effects on children? Do media have
an impact on parents about parenting?
And in what ways does media play a role in providing information and
support to parents about child-rearing?
All of these aspects are important but I am only going to focus on: What impact do media have on children? And as Latter Day Saints, how do we live in
the world, but not of the world?
What
impact do media have on children?
The first aspect that I want to talk about is the
impact that the media has on children. What
is the media? The media is the communication
through which news, entertainment, education, data, or promotional messages are
disseminated. Media includes every
medium such as newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, billboards, direct mail,
telephone, fax, and internet (Dictionary, 2012).
Let me paint a little picture for you of recent
facts about the media and its influence on our children. Children have a full time job; children watch an average of 40 hours of TV a week
(Bushman & Anderson, 2001). By the
time we are 65 years old, the average person will have spent the equivalent of
9 years watching TV (Bushman & Huesmann, 2001). By the time a child graduates elementary
school, they will have seen 8,000 murders and 100,000 other acts of violence
(Bushman & Anderson, 2001). 60% of
TV programmes contain violence (Donnerstein, 2001). And there are more television sets in the United State
than toilets (Bushman & Anderson, 2001) (Luster, 2012). What is wrong with this picture?
In this You Tube
video, it will depict how bad things have been in the past and also show us that
things are not getting any better.
The Media's
Effects on Children
Even though
we can see our society deteriorating around us there have and are programs out
there that provide children with good, positive examples as well as for adults
too. For example, Mr. Rogers'
Neighborhood was a great program that taught children about good morals and
values. Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood,
offer powerful models for healthy care giving behavior, and it was found that
parents sometimes reported watching this program for this very same purpose
(Simpson, 1998).
In this YouTube video, it will show us the influence
that television has on all of us, not matter what age you are.
The Influence of
Television Media on Society
What are some other ways the media influences our
children?
What worries you about the media?
As
Latter Day Saints, how do we live in the world, but not of the world?
The proclamation describes our
schooling here for family life:
“Husband and wife have a solemn
responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children.
‘Children are an heritage of the Lord’ (Ps. 127:3).
Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to
provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve
one another, to observe the commandments of God, and to be law-abiding citizens
wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held
accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations (Eyring, 1998).
President Thomas S. Monson said, to an alarming extent, our children today are
being educated by the media, including the Internet. The messages portrayed on television, in
movies, and in other media are very often in direct opposition to that which we
want our children to embrace and hold dear. It is our responsibility not only to teach
them to be sound in spirit and doctrine but also to help them stay that way,
regardless of the outside forces they may encounter. This will require much
time and effort on our part—and in order to help others, we ourselves need the
spiritual and moral courage to withstand the evil we see on every side (Monson,
2007).
We
live in the time spoken of in 2 Nephi, chapter 9: O the vainness, and the frailties, and the
foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they
hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know
of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them
not. And they shall perish.
But
to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God. Required is the courage to hold fast to our
standards despite the derision of the world (Monson, 2007).
I love this story that
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf tell in the April 2008 General Conference
Session. In 1979 a large
passenger jet with 257 people on board left New Zealand for a sightseeing
flight to Antarctica and back. Unknown to the pilots, however, someone had
modified the flight coordinates by a mere two degrees. This error placed the
aircraft 28 miles to the east of where the pilots assumed they were. As they
approached Antarctica, the pilots descended to a lower altitude to give the
passengers a better look at the landscape. Although both were experienced
pilots, neither had made this particular flight before, and they had no way of
knowing that the incorrect coordinates had placed them directly in the path of
Mount Erebus, an active volcano that rises from the frozen landscape to a
height of more than 12,000 feet (
Uchtdorf,
2008).
As
the pilots flew onward, the white of the snow and ice covering the volcano
blended with the white of the clouds above, making it appear as though they
were flying over flat ground. By the time the instruments sounded the warning
that the ground was rising fast toward them, it was too late. The airplane
crashed into the side of the volcano, killing everyone on board (Uchtdorf, 2008).
It was a terrible tragedy brought on by a minor
error—a matter of only a few degrees (Uchtdorf,
2008).
The influence of the media can have the same
effects on our children, our families, and us. Here are some ideas to help guard us against
these negative influences, so that we never allow ourselves to get, even just a
few degrees off.
·
Start out in the very begin, when your children are
young, to build a relationship, where communication is open. Talk to your children about the media and its
positive and negative effects.
·
Set appropriate rules for media use in the home
and outside of the home.
·
Prepare yourself for the media.
On-line you can find many FREE web protection
filters.
The web protection filter that
we use in our home is call K-9 Web Protection
http://www1.k9webprotection.com/
·
Create an environment that your children can
feel the spirit, with friends and family.
·
Co-playing: play video games together,
Co-viewing: watch movies and television together
·
Set a good example
These are just a few suggestions but the best
way to combat against the evils of the world is to make our Heavenly Father,
Jesus Christ, and the gift of the Holy Ghost a part of our families’ lives, and
teaching our children to never do things that can lead the spirit of the Holy
Ghost away from them.
What other suggestions do you have on how we can
be in the world but not of the world?
How did your parents handle media in the home?
References
Luster, Stephanie (2012, Wednesday, July
25) (Bushman & Anderson, 2001,Bushman & Huesmann,
2001, Donnerstein, 2001). Media Influences
and Media Monitoring. Class 16,
1-35.
