Berean Journeymen

Are you willing to help a family member in a time of need? Suppose your relative is in need of a place to stay (for the purposes of this paper, lets call him John). You are a caring and compassionate person and offer your home to John as a dwelling place of safety, security and refuge. John moves in and everything is going great. Your children and spouse really like John and he is great. Yet over time, you start to see a change in John. John smokes a cigarette and drinks an occasional beer in front of the kids. You don’t think anything about it, it’s just John, you love John and there’s no harm by him, right?


As time goes on, John continues to drink, smoke and now occasionally has an estranged girlfriend over, and your children have caught them heavily kissing at times. Occasionally, John will get in an argument with his girlfriend and they will yell, scream, and use profanity all in view of your children. John does not apologize for his actions and continues in this behavior. Then one night John gets angry and starts to beat up his girlfriend. He is drunk and is out of control to the point that he kills his girlfriend right in front of your children.


As with many, when you were reading about John, you probably thought to yourself, “I would never let that guy in my house!” or at least you would kick him out after a short period. As a parent, I believe it is safe to say, that none of us would allow a person like that in our house nor would we allow our children to be exposed to someone like that, but unfortunately we do it every day through the television. What society deems as a simple show such as “My Name is Earl” or “Desperate Housewives” we are polluting our children’s minds and ours. Shows that seem harmless because it’s just “Hollywood” yet we are exposing our children to situations that are interpreted as realistic in their minds. Images of sex, alcohol, violence, drugs, immoral turpitude are visible every day and at any hour on almost every channel of the television.


Through various studies and research, it has been discovered that children are being negatively affected by watching television. “Studies show that too much television viewing can have adverse affects, such as more violent and aggressive behavior, poor school performance, obesity, early sexual activity, and drug or alcohol use.” (“Family Issues Facts”). The studies have linked this to the viewing of television on a regular basis as an antagonist. According to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, approximately two-thirds of infants and toddlers watch two hours of television a day including children under the age of six as well. Children the age of eight to eighteen spend an average of four hours watching television including an additional two hours of computer or video game time (“How TV Affects Your Child”). At the most, it is recommended that people spend no more than two total viewing hours of television a day.


Programs viewed on television are to be for entertainment purposes. However, they carry a lot more weight to them than just entertainment. “TV is full of programs and commercials that depict risky behaviors such as sex and substance abuse as cool, fun, and exciting. And often, there's no discussion about the consequences of drinking alcohol, doing drugs, smoking cigarettes, and having premarital sex.” (“How TV Affects Your Child”). Studies show that youth who view these types of programs are more likely to partake in the activities they watched compared to youth who do not view the same program.


The commercials viewed during the intermission of these programs are just as bad as the program themselves if not worse. “Advertisers target kids, and on average, children see tens of thousands of TV commercials each year. This includes many ads for unhealthy snack foods and drinks. Children and youth see, on average, about 2,000 beer and wine ads on TV each year.” (“Television”). Yet we continue to allow this type of pollution in our homes across America everyday. “From the junk food and toy advertisements during Saturday morning cartoons to the appealing promos on the backs of cereal boxes, marketing messages inundate kids of all ages (“How TV Affects Your Child”).”


Not all programming on television is bad for our children to watch. Many educational programs available do a great job in aiding in the education of our youth. It is the responsibility of the parent to facilitate what is and what is not being viewed on television. There are studies coming out monthly as to the affects television today is having on our children. The statistical numbers are overwhelming and at times scary.


Parents need to further educate their children in the affects of television and not completely isolate children from everything. From the news broadcasts to the nightly television program, it is important for parents to sensor what their children are watching as well as limiting the time spent viewing television. Parents can partake in many other worthy activities with their children instead of sitting down in front of the television. As a follower of Jesus Christ, if the show is not a pleasing to God then it is not worth watching.