Pope Says Media Damaging Families

The BBC ^ | January 24, 2004 | Mike Workman

[RWR8189]

The Pope urged parents to supervise their children

The Pope has called on governments across the world to ensure that family life is not weakened by the growth of communications media.

He said in an age where many families had access to immense and varied media resources, parents needed to regulate how their children used it.

The Pope did not single out any particular section of the media.

But it is clear that he is concerned about the internet and the vast number of new television stations.

This would include strictly limiting the time children devote to media... putting some media entirely off limits and periodically excluding all of them for the sake of other family activities Pope's advice to parents

In his statement issued in advance of World Communications Day on 23 May, Pope John Paul II once again emphasised traditional Catholic teaching on the family and human relationships.

He criticised those in the communications industry who were promoting values detrimental to the common good of society.

Pro-active approach

The Pope urged parents to closely supervise what their children saw and heard, and to be more critical of messages which could undermine the family.

All communication has a moral dimension... People grow or diminish in moral stature by the words which they speak and the messages which they choose to hear Pope John Paul II

More significantly perhaps, he urged parents to be outspoken when it came to telling producers and governments what they liked and disliked.

And as for governments, he said they needed to involve what he described as family representatives in the regulation of the media, so they did not act against the good of the family.

Although the Pope made clear he was not supporting censorship, he is advocating a more pro-active approach by those who hold his conservative values.

It will almost certainly be seen as a challenge by opponents of the Catholic Church's teaching on such issues as divorce, contraception or homosexuality.

[SuziQ]

Even on Nick just last night, kids bobbing for apples in a toilet. Do we really need this?

We haven't watched Nick in 10 yrs, ever since Linda Ellerbe started peddling her liberal ideas in the 'teen discussion' programs. There hasn't been anything on that channel that has been worth watching. Same thing with Disney; when it started showing re-runs of that teen show with Kirk Cameron, who one critic called 'hormones with feet', we stopped watching it, too! I didn't let our older kids watch that show when it was on prime-tine TV, so I wasn't about to let the younger ones watch it in re-runs!

[B Knotts]

Just how much good is gotten from it?

EWTN, Fox News, History Channel, an occasional show on Discovery or TLC.

Is it enough to outweigh the bad?

Tough call, but there are occasional things to be learned.

I think it's like a lot of other things. In moderation, it can be good, if used in the proper way. Like alcoholic beverages, it can be beneficial in moderation, but extremely damaging if misused.

[B Knotts]

Also, I'd add that IMO, a TV without satellite is worse than one with it, as there is nothing worthwhile on broadcast television these days.

With satellite, the things I mentioned are available, plus you can lock out anything you feel is objectionable.

[Polycarp IV]

You mentioned Fox News...they might be somewhat conservative, but they love scandal and sex, and their commercials are no better than any other channel. I've noticed that commercials now constitute just as much a near occasion as programming!

[narses]

Cast the one-eyed beast from its central throne in your home BUMP!!!

Cast the one-eyed beast from its central throne in your home BUMP!!!

Cast the one-eyed beast from its central throne in your home BUMP!!!

[Polycarp IV]

;-)

[Maximilian]

Cast the one-eyed beast from its central throne in your home BUMP!!!

We have one TV off in an unheated side room. It doesn't get any reception, but the kids watch videos, sometimes we get family videos from the library, and I have a rabbit-ears antenna hidden away for when I want to watch the Super Bowl or election results.

This sounds okay, but I'm really starting to wonder about having it around at all. I wonder if we shouldn't just go cold turkey and get rid of the thing entirely. I wonder about how many times the kids can watch Veggie Tales and Toy Story without suffering permanent brain damage. And the temptation to watch something on broadcast, is that healthy? Even the football games have advertisements that are far from edifying.

We watched a few football games over New Year's day, and I was struck not only by the blatant vulgarity that was constantly in your face, but even more so by the continual theme of every advertisement: making fun of white guys. Every commercial has to have a woman of color showing up some poor ignorant boob white guy. To me it appears to be a deliberate policy of undermining family life through attacking the head of the family.

I'm not even a fan of "family-friendly" broadcast fare. To me that seems like a sinister plot to rope in the few remaining people who aren't already watching television. And the few shows I watched were never "family-friendly" by my standards. I found "Seventh Heaven," for example, to be far from edifying.

I wonder what people here think about the "limited viewing" approach versus the "toss a 10-lb weight through the screen" approach." Does anyone have some instructive experience?

[narses]

The best choice is tossing the beast. The reality is that a water tap that also can deliver poisen is a menace.

[narses]

Let me ask, are there ads/shows/programs that are sinful that are on the beast? If so, why not KILL it?

[Jeff Chandler]

Getting rid of the tube is a wonderful idea, but what we have done is train our kids to spot the liberal, pc, etc. stuff and make fun of it, and we do our best to avoid the filthy stuff in the little television we do watch.

[Salvation]

BTTT!

[reed_inthe_wind]

I went for about five years without a television when I was single. I am pretty sure that my personality mellowed in those 5 years. It wasn't until I got married that the TV crept back into my life. We use it mostly for kids videos and movies. When we were first married, I couldn't believe the trash programming that my wife just took for granted. At first she complained that she couldn't enjoy TV while I was there. Eventually we met in the middle, she now seems more offended than I am at most programming and commercials.

[Salvation]

Take a break, Elsie.

[PFKEY]

I wonder what people here think about the "limited viewing" approach versus the "toss a 10-lb weight through the screen" approach." Does anyone have some instructive experience?

Broadcast television has not been seen in my home for some time now.

Not a conscious effort just nothing of interest there. Well, Jeopardy gets a bit of play.

My house gets Cartoon Network and movies not that those are much better if your objective is to avoid media that is not consistant with Christian values.

Actually my biggest complaint is the use of God, as in "Oh my God". Next would be the love stories and sex that always find their way into even the most violent of films.

Do we really need to see the sensitive side of a serial killer.

Maybe the lyric "there is no sex in your violence" is telling us that there is a natural instinctive connection between the two.

Sad!

[dsc]

The thing that has struck me is that absence from the tube allows resensitization.

For people who watch TV, spend a month or two without it, absolutely cold turkey, then try to watch again.

I'll bet relatively few regular TV watchers were "struck...by the blatant vulgarity" of the StuporBowl commercials as you were (and I'm quite willing to take your word for that). They're desensitized to a degree that would amaze them if they woke up.

I have TVs in my house in Yokohama. My opinion is that as long as my kids are not watching so much that they turn into zombies, it's better that I take offensive material as an opening to explain things than to try and isolate them from the culture at large.

That is, I'm trying to give them some resources to deal with these things when they arise, rather than trying to shield them completely, which is impossible.

I'm happy to say that they're all thoroughly "homophobic," pro-life, contemptuous of drug use, piercings, and eccentric styles in clothing and hair, and regard marital infidelity and premarital misconduct with great disfavor. May they never turn aside, please Lord.

[Alkhin]

I have found life to be far better and interesting without the TV. In fact, when the hubby is at work and child at school, I dont have it on at all. Usually the radio...and sometimes not even that. Profound quiet allows the mind to do so much more.

But then...I *so* have a proclivity for spending much of my time on the computer...so perhaps I have traded one idol for another?????

www.brazoscantina.com

[Aquinasfan]

I wonder what people here think about the "limited viewing" approach versus the "toss a 10-lb weight through the screen" approach." Does anyone have some instructive experience?

It's a judgement call. Personally, I believe in training children to be media savvy. I block anything that's not appropriate for them. The TV is in the family room and we know when and what they're watching. The biggest problem for me is the commercials, because they can't be avoided. I make a point of discussing the commercials with them. "Why do you think they're saying that?" "Do you think getting that toy will make you that happy?"

We watch "Touched by an Angel" a lot. I think it's a great teaching tool. It's a way to introduce them to the darker things in life but not in a morally indifferent way. My girls are 6 and 8, but they still enjoy Veggie Tales. They love EWTN on Saturday mornings (9-11:30) and EWTN's late afternoon programming.

[cubreporter]

We understand how you feel. We just watch some news and then things like the History Channel. Just turn it off and don't allow it to pull you in. Everything has to have sex anymore and so it's nothing of value or substance. Turn it off! More people are doing so I think...at least the ones we know.

[Askel5]

=== Even the football games have advertisements that are far from edifying.


I sat down to Super Bowl Sunday last year with my grandfather and was both mortified and utterly disgusted.

Who can blame them for making fun of the idiot white guys who think Budweiser's got a lock on wit?


I have some rabbit ears too which I use for the Simpsons (don't scold me!), old movies, cooking shows and the occasional Frontline or some such episode that piques my interest. I'm thinking you may be right, though ... time to trash the thing.

[Maximilian]

But then...I *so* have a proclivity for spending much of my time on the computer...so perhaps I have traded one idol for another?????

An outstanding question which I often ask myself.