Parental Guidance

Growing up in a Christian school censorship was all around me.  My friends would say how they weren’t allowed to watch Caillou as a kid, because it would have made them bratty.  Another friend wasn’t allowed to watch Wizards of Waverly Place, because her mom thought it would make her believe in wizards and not God.  And Spongebob was off limits, because he would have made them even more obnoxious than they already were.

Without a doubt, media has one of the biggest impacts on the youth.  It can influence them in bad ways, but also in really good ways.  My argument isn’t whether or not media has a good or bad influence on children, but rather the fact that parents wouldn’t need to shield their child from seemingly bad influences if they had taught them well enough. Caillou wouldn’t make a child rude and bratty if they already knew and understood the importance of having manners.  Wizards of Waverly Place wouldn’t make a child’s understanding of reality go up in smoke if they knew the difference between that and fantasy and Spongebob wouldn’t make a child loud and disruptive, if they knew when to sit quiet. 

I’m not saying show your child any and all things on TV, but if you trust that you’ve taught them the importance of certain things then you wouldn’t have to worry about the negative impact.