Protect Your Children

"So why do we open our windows to bad movies and TV programs...........Who allows such movies and TV programs to be made? Especially for the very young? We do! We are too undemanding,too ready to watch whatever is on the screen,too lonely,lazy or bored to create our own lives We turn on the TV and leave it on,allowing someone else to guide us,shape us and destroy us."(from The Sun in My Heart by Thich Nhat Hanh).
Recently,much publicity has been given to the savage assault by six high school girls on a fellow classmate.A week has passed and this sixteen year old girl cannot hear out of her left ear or see out of her left eye. Reporters have expressed surprise that this crime was committed,not by juvenile delinquents, but by teenagers who were considered "good kids." Several were cheerleaders who excelled academically.
In addition, each week seems to bring more stories of school,college,and job site shootings.News programs report on these and other heinous crimes on an almost nightly basis.Our parents tell us that they rarely ever heard of such things back when they were young.And they are right,we are living in an age of unprecedented violence and sadistic behaviour.
Why is this happening? You can be sure the reasons are many as to why it's occurring.It would be foolish however not to site television,movies and the print media for what has been called the desensitizing of our youth to violence.The horrible effects of this desensitizing are well documented and we are seeing it reported in the news on a regular basis.It is no coincidence that for the last few decades graphic violence has become more prevalent and easily accessible for everyone, no matter what the age.
It's a sad fact that too many people use the television,computer, and movies without considering their long and short-term effects, as well as the appropriateness of their content.Parents admit that they often put their small children in front of the television because it keeps them "occupied." This is a lazy and negligent thing to do.There are so many other better ways to spend our leisure time, you only have to think back to what you did as a youth with your friends and family.
Throughout the Bible we read that we are to avoid things that are immoral,not because someone's trying to take all the enjoyment out of life, but because Our Lord wants to protect us from following a path that leads to unhappiness and possible self-destruction.
Scripture also tells us that as parents we have a responsibility to care for and raise our children in a loving,Godly enviroment.Being vigilant in regards to what our children see and are exposed to, is a responsibility of being a parent, and, a Christian.