“Hey Mom, Can I Watch This?” Tips to Filter Your Kids Entertainment

On my way home from a graduation celebration over the weekend, I began thinking about all the things we want our kids to learn before they venture out on their own. In fact, one essential parenting goal is to equip our children to become capable and responsible adults when that moment arrives. But to get there successfully is no easy feat. It requires patience, perseverance, and consistency along with a lot of love, direction and prayer.

While parenting is a privilege, it’s also hard work. This means that we need an occasional break (especially in the summer months) to have time to do things like getting dinner on the table, or some other essential task where those little helping hands are not that…helpful.

Enter Kids Entertainment

With the many options available today across multiple streaming platforms (plus traditional cable), it’s easy to sit down, pick up the remote or tablet, and begin the search for something that seems interesting, and harmless, to watch. But unfortunately, not all is as it appears.

Ratings of movies and other shows do not always reflect the content accuratelyThe Parent’s Television Council, an organization that advocates for responsible entertainment, found that the current system has failed children for 20 years, making educating parents and petitioning for ratings reform one of their important missions. When children are younger, it’s easier for informed parents to control their family’s viewing content. However, those young ones will soon choose what to watch on their own, especially if they have access to wireless devices. This might happen earlier (and more often) than you think. In 2017, it was reported that 42% of kids age 8 had a tablet (that number was 1% in 2011), accumulating an average of 8 hours per day on media (Journal of Pediatrics). And this year (2018) 91% of teens will use a smartphone, averaging over 11 hours of screen time per day.

What do these stats tell us?

Well, parents, when your children begin to ask if they can watch a particular movie, TV show or YouTube video, don’t just respond “yes” or “no”. Make sure you communicate the “why”. It’s the “why” that trains your children to think through their media choices and develop media discernment. The conversation begins something like this:

“Yes, that’s a good choice, and here’s why…”

“No, that show isn’t one you should watch, and here’s why…”

Moms and Dads, for this approach to be successful, you have two things you must do to prepare for the conversation:

First, you must be aware of the program’s content and message your kids want to watch.

Second, you must know your “why”.

I have resources linked below to help you with the first task. But you need to discover the second one yourself because it’s based on personal conviction. However, Christian parents, I believe the Bible gives us direction in this area.

So keep on reading.

Finding Your Why

With our cultural conditioning, it’s easy to become desensitized to what surrounds us. Whether it’s on the Internet or TV, news articles or “entertainment”, sex and violence are a part of the daily conversation. And though we cannot avoid these topics entirely, we can certainly limit our diet of them.

When kids enter the picture, we tend to become more sensitized to things that didn’t bother us before. We begin to look at them through the eyes of a child. The warnings we hear start to have an impact. And, hopefully, we begin to consider our own media appetite.


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