Some time ago I read that children of school age view television approximately 6.8 hours a day, every day! That doesn’t include TV they watch at school. Home time is divided between TV viewing and video games. You may be saying, “My children don’t spend that much time watching the tube.” But check some time.
The amount of time watching TV is not as much a problem as what we watch and hear on TV. Legislators, philosophers, Hollywood moguls, and educators have been debating the adverse (or good) effect television has on, not just youngsters, but all of us. “Evil begets evil; good begets good.”
Television is with us all the time. Any time you turn it on you see programs produced by the movie, news and entertainment industry. What we see is a lot of violence, murder, sexual perversion, crime, sin, war and maybe (seldom) a good story of human interest and good entertainment. Why? The television industry knows what sells, what people want to see, and they provide plenty of it. To them, what sells is more important than content.
Watch the tube and you see advertisements that often are questionable in content. Some TV ads should be rated. Have you ever watched your children during a cartoon? At a very early age, they will lose some attention to the cartoon itself, but as soon as an advertiesment comes on, their attention instantly perks up.
This is not to say all pictures that move and talk are sinful, but judicious parents must be careful that too much TV doesn’t occupy the attention of our children and ourselves. Study this good resolve: “I will set before my eyes no vile thing” (Ps 101:3) NIV
