Tips to Keeping Your Children Away from Inappropriate Media

In a perfect world, you would be with your children every minute of the day ensuring all they saw was worthwhile and appropriate content for their age. When they start to get older, unfortunately, they must learn to navigate a constant barrage of media, and begin to decide what should or should not be viewed. By arming your child early with a solid moral compass and an understanding of common sense, it will be easier for her to determine if, for instance, the Internet site she opens is legitimate and appropriate. The Diocese of Orlando has compiled a list of suggestions for helping parents and their children attending private schools in Orlando in their quest to refrain from watching inappropriate media.Television: If you and your children watch a sitcom that contains adult themes, or if you watch dramas with violent overtones, this may shift your children’s perspective from what is morally correct and incorrect. The more exposure to these themes, the better the chance the same themes will start to appear within their choice of online entertainment. This includes even young children. If you are addicted to a certain show, record it for later and watch while your children are asleep.Video games: Almost every game your child plays has an ESRB rating. Take a look at the rating before the game is rented, purchased, or downloaded to decide if you want your child to “participate” in the adventure offered by the game. Good choices for younger children are learning games endorsed by their favorite characters or common household names such as: Leapfrog, Hooked on Phonics, or Scholastic. Give older children a chance to grow and think critically with Little Big Planet, Minecraft, or Lego Dimensions. Teenagers who enjoy driving games have much more to choose from than violent games such as Grand Theft Auto. Games like Forza Motorsport and Need for Speed are much more appropriate.Internet: Parental controls are a must these days. It is especially important to err on the side of caution in this respect, because many children’s sites have ulterior websites with different endings, for instance, adding a .com rather than a .edu to the ending, can bring up extremely different – and sometimes inappropriate – content.Philippians 4:8 sums up our media viewing with, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” If your current television program or movie download does not meet those specifications of pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy, is it truly worth watching? If your parish priest walked into your living room while this show was on, would you immediately turn it off? Answering “yes” means the program should probably not be on your “must see” list. Contact the Diocese of Orlando at 407-246-4903 to learn the movies we recommend our students in private schools in Orlando watch, and read our blog page for a list of family movies sure to please.