4 Ways to Control Media Entertainment in Your Home

10/29/2019

Mass media entertainment—television, movies, music, the Internet, social media, and video games—ranks among the most influential teachers of our children. Think about that just a moment. The MOST influential! Is that what we want for our family?

According to a Nielsen Media Research report, the average child views 15,000 to 30,000 hours of television by the age of seventeen. During the same period of time, that child will spend 11,000 to 16,000 hours in school, and 2,000 hours (or less) in quality time with his parents. The average family spends 7 hours each day of the week watching television, making television the number one consumer of people's leisure time.

Does this all sound excessive? It does to me. If it does to you as well then I should tell you that these statistics are from 1995!

1995—that's almost 25 years ago, and those statistics don't include the social media giants we know all too well of today.

In light of these shocking statistics, the Christian family must guard even more today against this subtle enemy that has creeped into our homes—media entertainment—and the ramifications it can have on the way our children think and act.

The Apostle Paul warned of such dangers in 1 Corinthians 15:33,

"Do not be deceived: 'Bad company ruins good morals.'" 1 Corinthians 15:33

Why do we as parents so often ignore the dangerous infiltration of television and other forms of media into our homes? The constant barrage of inappropriate scenes, words we wouldn't speak, and subtle insinuations numbs the viewers' consciences while simultaneously undermining Christian values. In most instances, television and movies show little respect for God, His Son, His church, or the Christian family. Where are the television programs and movies that portray a happy mom-and-dad or single-parent family that upholds biblical truths and family values? They are noticeably absent, by design.

Media entertainment, especially television, movies, and gaming, prevents children from developing their inner-visualization and interpretive skills, and it adversely affects their behavioral and psychological development.

With few exceptions, these types of entertainment are of little or no cognitive worth to children. Why? Because cognitive knowledge requires reflection and interaction. Television and movies especially do not allow children the opportunity to interact, and the pictures change too rapidly for children to reflect on what they have seen and heard.

Discernment is the ability to differentiate between good and evil

Media entertainment attempts to tear down a family's discernment abilities. Once destroyed, the family has few or no boundaries or values to control what is viewed. Without biblical discernment skills, a Christian family is easy prey to the media's seductive strategies.

Our society loves the media world and its many forms of entertainment. It does not promote biblical discernment, truth, honesty, and justice, therefore, the Christian family must control the media entertainment in the home or it will control the home.

How then can media entertainment be controlled in the home?

Media entertainment, for the most part, is biased against the Christian family. How can parents protect their children's developing minds? Is the only solution total abstinence? What options does the conscientious Christian family have?

We can take control of all forms of media entertainment in our homes. Develop a plan to regulate the use of media entertainment. Implement the plan. Supervise and, if necessary, modify the control plan to meet our family's needs.

4 Ways to Control Media Entertainment in Your Home

Possible options include the following:

Establish censorship rules. The family can work together in establishing viewing rules. I like those words work together. This is not parents vs children. This is the family working together for a common goal. Set specific, definable guidelines for selecting and viewing media entertainment and for participating in media activities—like gaming.
Restrict viewing to the weekends. Personally, this is my favorite! This allows five days for children and parents to focus on school studies, leisure reading, and family activities without the interference of media entertainment.
Plan family nights with no media activities. Create a night for your family to play board games, miniature golf, entertain friends, put together a puzzle, etc. Make this a weekly highlight. I like this one too! I love ushering in the weekend with a Friday Family Game Night!
Abolish media entertainment. If control is impossible, eliminate media entertainment for a specific period of time—like a media entertainment fast. I recently did this for a 2-week period. It was liberating! Imagine what would happen if all media entertainment systems were turned off for a month. The results would be revolutionary! If this effort fails, permanently censor the devices creating the problem.

ConsumersAdvocate.org has posted an overview of parental control apps, the services they provide, and how they can help you protect your children. With over 200 hours of research, 40 sources used, and 22 companies vetted, read about the 10 Best Parental Control Apps of 2020.

Families can respond to media entertainment with censorship or control. It must be controlled, otherwise, our children are influenced by people we would never allow into our homes.

The Psalmist said,

"I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me." Psalm 101:3

Scripture teaches pure and holy thinking and living. We must seek the mind of Christ. We must guard against media entertainment and its deceptive ways. It is an enemy bent on destroying the family.

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How do you control media entertainment in your home so that it doesn't control your family?

30 Comments

Lisa notes link

10/29/2019 09:24:20 am

Even though we no longer have children at home, my husband and I still have to control what we consume via media. These are good guidelines for whatever level we need to adapt to our individual lives. What we watch can change who we are.

Patsy Burnette link

10/29/2019 09:31:19 am

You are so totally right, Lisa. What we watch (and listen to) can and will make an impact on our lives. I'm reminded of that song from children's church, "Oh be careful little eyes what you see..."

Rebecca Hastings link

10/29/2019 09:35:16 am

This is so important, but if I'm being truly honest it's a really hard subject for me.

I know the places that should be different, and the *idea* of going media free sounds great. But in reality, I am just as entangled in the pull of media as my kids.

Sure, it may look different, but it's the same thing. And I think this is the #1 reason parents don't make changes. Because it would be hard for them to. In a lot of ways. At least for me.

I recently read "The Tech-Wise Family" by Andy Crouch and it was at the very least thought provoking.

10/29/2019 10:46:13 am

Rebecca, this is such an honest assessment. I feel like I'm right there with you! This book sounds interesting. I'm going to check it out. Thanks!

Laurie link

10/29/2019 09:46:02 am

My son and daughter-in-law had to institute some media rules similar to these when their oldest son (now 8) found some inappropriate sites on Youtube. It's scary out there! Thank you for these good suggestions. I will pass them along.

10/29/2019 10:59:45 am

It IS scary out there, Laurie! And once a child finds this stuff it can follow them around. I know if I'm looking on one site, web or social media, for something (boots for instance) suddenly, it's everywhere. That is frightening for someone who has accidentally viewed something inappropriate and then that "something" keeps popping up. Evil times we live in! :-/ Seems the Devil's job has only been made easier.

April link

10/29/2019 10:01:43 am

Having media free time slots is something my husband and I were just talking about. My youngest is 11. With all my other children being adults, we are realizing that she will need a different format of rules. She's not doing social media for a few more years but we still want to limit the use of her devices time....I need to do a social media fast, I've been saying it but I haven't set my mind to it yet. I think with the holidays coming up, I want to put it on my calendar to do before the end of the year. Thanks for the encouragement in this today!

10/29/2019 11:02:02 am

You'll love the SM fast, April. I did. Two weeks with no laptop and no cellphone was WONDERFUL! But I did miss you girls! :(

Michele Morin link

10/29/2019 11:57:53 am

I don't think there's ever been a time in history when discernment was so important and so challenging. We have tried to keep a handle on "entertainment" by making it a family thing. I think solitary plugging in to movies and internet videos can become problematic.

10/29/2019 12:15:07 pm

You are so right, Michele!

Rebecca Jones link

10/29/2019 05:10:05 pm

This is so true, I have long thought Hollywood could do better.

10/30/2019 08:28:15 am

Rebecca, Hollywood has been needing to do better for a very long time. I have been somewhat encouraged over the past decade or so by many of the Christian movies that have done well—not that these come from "Hollywood." I think it just goes to show how much people are searching for truth.

Karen Del Tatto link

10/29/2019 05:29:14 pm

I wholeheartedly agree!

The statistics you shared are sobering to say the least.

It's been wonderful to watch how my daughter is raising my granddaughter which has fostered Lexi's imagination in such a delightful way. Lexi can use anything to create her own vignette's filled with imagination that bring her so much joy and joy to this Mimi too! :-)

Thanks for sharing.

10/31/2019 07:28:31 am

They ARE sobering, Karen. AND, they'er almost 25 years old! I think that's what shocks me the most. How much worse they must be today with all the SM interaction we deal with. Sounds like your daughter is doing an excellent job!

Debbie Wilson link

10/30/2019 09:01:10 am

We live in an age where this is a real problem. For me, I get sucked into answering emails and following links. So much time can be eaten up. My children are grown, but you provided great suggestions and warnings for why we need to protect our children.

10/30/2019 09:31:30 am

It is a difficult time to be raising tweens and/or teens. These parents need our prayers for discernment!

Susan Shipe link

10/30/2019 09:11:13 am

Our discernment meters need ramping up!!! Great post. Empty nest but I don't want to watch crap either.

10/30/2019 09:33:06 am

For sure, Susan!

Lauren Renee Sparks link

10/30/2019 11:18:57 am

Great tips for such a scary and important issue we face today. laurensparks.net

10/30/2019 02:46:41 pm

You're right, Lauren. It is a scary time to be raising kiddos. Let's pray for those who are in the trenches of this very important battle!

Rachel link

10/30/2019 11:37:23 am

This is really hard to do! It's hard to make everything fair among the kids as far as amount of time they all get, too. We did invest in the Disney circle which has been great for knowing what they are all doing on their devices and for being able to set limits on particular apps even for my husband and I.

10/30/2019 02:48:09 pm

Thanks for sharing about the Disney Circle, Rachel. I'm sure some of our readers would like to look into that. :)

Teri link

10/30/2019 11:39:07 am

Super helpful! I have a 13 year old and this is something we are really trying to figure out. We do need to sit down with him and discuss rules as well as explain about discernment. Thanks for putting this in my brain!

10/30/2019 02:49:28 pm

Thank you, Teri! Bless your heart! Be consistent and don't give in or up!

Angela Johnson link

10/30/2019 01:12:20 pm

This is an excellent post. I am pinning and sharing.

10/30/2019 02:50:56 pm

Thank you so much, Angela! I really struggled with this post on so many levels. So, it's nice to hear that it's sparking some conversation and making people think. It's a tough time to be a parent.

Melody link

10/31/2019 11:05:22 pm

This is a tough subject. For me, as a mom of three young kids and a household to run, it's sometimes so easy to fall on media entertainment to keep the kids occupied while I get some things done. For our family, it works to restrict TV time to an hour or two at a certain time of day, so I can get housework done. But we have been VERY strict about not letting the kids have any devices. I really enjoyed reading your post and reading your thoughts on how to control media entertainment in our homes. You have some excellent points and great reminders! Thank you for being obedient to the voice of the Lord!

11/1/2019 05:20:51 am

Melody, you are right. It is very easy to fall into the trap of allowing media entertainment to be the babysitter. We all do it! We're busy. We have things to do. Laundry. Cooking. Cleaning... the list goes on and on. We sometimes even need time alone. Add that to the list, please. Books make a better babysitter for those times.

Betty link

11/11/2019 05:34:26 am

This is so true! It's a constant battle to censor what the children are watching and be sure they aren't being fed with contrary news, lifestyle and such.
I especially like the idea of having a media fast from time to time. This is the approach that works for me. No media on weekdays, only weekends.

7/13/2020 09:47:39 am

I did a two-week media fast last fall, Betty, and it was one of the highlights of my fall—seriously! I spent two weeks at the beach (not too difficult to media fast there, right!? LOL) with my family and writing. It was great! I'll most likely do it again this fall as well.

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4 Ways to Control Media Entertainment in Your Home

Discernment is the ability to differentiate between good and evil

How then can media entertainment be controlled in the home?

4 Ways to Control Media Entertainment in Your Home

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How then can media entertainment be controlled in the home?

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