Reviews, Interviews , News, Commentaries, My Top 5 Movies, Best-Of Lists, Filmmakers of Faith, Film ForumAre Secular Television Shows with Moral Messages Good for Christian Children?
Second, this is a tremendous opportunity to develop our children's moral discernment, especially as they live in a world where there is a constant stream of media, often with conflicting messages about what is (for example) good, true, loving, and just. It is important that Christian parents help their children learn about the Bible (as Deuteronomy 6:6-9 commands). It is also important to help children identify moral lessons that resonate with God's truth, even if there is nothing explicitly Christian in the show they are watching.
In every era of history there has been some kind of moral crisis (even in the most "civilized" places). Much has been written about the unique dangers of our time because of the proliferation of media.
We can do more than sound the alarm. Helping children develop the ability to identify positive moral messages and interact with morally ambiguous ones will serve them well as they grow into adulthood. Children's shows are not worldview-neutral. Those programs may become a helpful resource when they help children learn about virtues such as compassion, patience, and justice. While not every show need be an exercise in moral formation, it is a positive contribution to culture when even secular shows reveal moral truth to children.
We need Christians to do their part to produce excellent programming that educates our children, but I happily affirm the intersection between creativity and moral formation from other Zip Codes in God's creation.
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Previous Village Green sections have discussed being pro-life and pro-death penalty, sports and violence, virtual fellowship, online dating, Muslim-Christian relations, military drones, terminal illness, marijuana morality, credit card debt, tithing during unemployment, illegal immigrants, giving to street people, the best Christmas stories, laws that ban Islamic veils, the Tea Party, Afghanistan, Bible smuggling, creation care, intelligent design, and preaching.
La complejidad hispana: Todo cambió en el 2012
The Latest in Movie News, May 20, 2013
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Amanda Johnston
I find it rather hypocritical that Phil Vischer's website Jelly Telly endorses secular movies: http://www.jellytelly.com/2012/03/16/dr-seuss-the-lorax-movie-a-review/ He needs to maintain a consistent message across the board. Granted, the endorsement for "The Lorax" is written by a freelance writer, but it is on Vischer's website, which implies that he supports the review and, therefore, also endorses "The Lorax."
Ronda Stewart-Wilcox
Mr. Vischer is correct: The world of children's media . . . is a-theistic (no god). If we are not careful, we all call fall into the good-enough approach to media consumption and even life-living. But there is a real difference between good-enough and good-because-it's-God. We don't have to avoid all children's media, but, as with moral development, it is our job as parents to work out with our children the truth that there is something more than what this bit of entertainment is presenting and that More is God. So, I am also in agreement with Mr. Bacote, because if we take our jobs as parents seriously and don't let TV supplant us, but make intentional choices about what we and our children watch, when we watch, and how we watch and that we will discuss what we watch, then we have the opportunity to develop our children's moral discernment and to help our children discern the presence (or lack) of God in our entertainment.
Ronda Stewart-Wilcox
I agree with key points by each commentator. Carla Barnhill -- Protective because I want my children to stay children. At age 5, they don't need to know about the intricacies of sex. (At age 5, they had an age-appropriate knowledge that sex produces babies, but the emphasis was on mommies and daddies/husbands and wives do that.) At age 5, they don't need to see images of violence that I would try to protect them from in real life if such violence were happening in our vicinity. Ms. Barnhill wrote: "It is my job as a parent to develop my child's moral center." Yes! When TV can support that, great! When TV might tear that down, nope. And sometimes, watching (age appropriately) things that are "more of the world" give us an opportunity to talk about what is happening, why it's happening, and what we might or might not do in the same circumstances.