Inappropriate TV, Movies and Songs
*omit if not age-appropriate
There’s no mistaking that watching TV, videos, movies and listening to songs causes you to relax because it requires low levels of concentration. But did you know that whatever you read, listen to or look at has an incredible power and an effect on you? The power of your mind is awesome, and it can have positive and negative influences on you. When you feed your mind with negative influences, the negative will come out. On the other hand, if you feed your mind with positive messages, then the positive will win. What comes in must come out is often the case with the common phrase "garbage in, garbage out!" When you fill your mind with garbage, the natural thing to do is to act upon it and it may be who you become.
But the good news is that you can, for the most part, control and allow what you want to enter your mind. This ensures that you can live a positive and healthy lifestyle. It's hard to escape the effects media can have on you after processing everything you see and hear. Offensive or inappropriate material is found in TV shows, movies, music, books, magazines and the Internet. Even when you view violence, it makes you less likely to repond to others in a caring and loving way. You have the power to choose what kind of shows and music you invite into your mind. This is why you should choose only media and entertainment that is uplifting for you so you won't lose the Spirit of the Lord. So you really shouldn't attend, view or participate in forms of entertainment which are immoral, violent or vulgar.
A lot of shows that you may find cool and exciting are full of reckless driving, nudity, bad language, drug use, casual *sex/relationships and other risky behaviors such as smoking and underage drinking. So many of them are unrealistic and don’t resemble the true lives of anyone you may know. Even commercials can bombard you with images of impossible thinness and beauty. So you have to ask yourself if will you be truly happy if you buy a certain product that a celebrity is telling you you must have. *Did you know that two-thirds of TV shows and movies contain sexual content with verbal and visual references? So this entertainment is a major source of information/misinformation about sex and does not give healthy attitudes and messages surrounding sex.
Music is an important and powerful part of life and it can have a good influence on you. There's no denying that it plays a significant role in your life. But some music can have evil effects on your mind and spirit. Do you know what the lyrics in the song you listen to are actually saying or referring to? Whether you realize it or not, your mind is recording everything that is placed in it. You might think you are more concerned with the beat than with the words but your mind will pick up on the lyrics even when you aren't focusing on the words to the songs.
Some songs in popular music today (and it can include rock, hip hop, heavy metal country and rap) have lyrics that are full of bad language and themes. These themes can be drugs, alcohol, destructive relationships, and even hate aimed at women and minorities. There are subtle and not-so-subtle lyrics coming out of the mouths of some of your favorite music superstars. Video games can even encourage violence. Some are filled with obscene and indecent images, and they portray characters making poor moral decisions. These are not appropriate values for you. Don't you want to keep your mind and spirit pure like God wants you to be? Taking in questionable content also leaves little room and time for God and takes away from family and friends as well.
So, what's wrong with watching and listening to inappropriate shows, videos, pictures and songs you may find appealing? This type of media can ruin your mind and heart and weaken your affection for God. You'll hear actors cursing God or take God's name in vain in times of anger, pain and even joy. God and the Christian faith are made fun of in many ways with all the immorality, impurity and drug usage. They show disrepect for Jesus and the Holy Spirit and go against the Word of God.
You should choose carefully the shows, videos and music that you watch and listen to; you should be a selective watcher and listener. If you encounter anything that you don't think will meet and keep God's standards, you should have the courage to turn it off, change it, or put it down. You can ask yourself if a certain favorite show or song has control over you. Do you glorify God by watching or listening to it? Could your time be better seeking God's wisdom or spent better in prayer? And just think, would you still be watching these kinds of shows and listening to your music if Jesus came to visit? It is important to show others the love of Christ through your behavior and your lifestyle. You can bring others into God's Kingdom by serving God, living a clean life and guarding your mind against poor influences.
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Faith Lessons for our children to teach God's values and standards. Guidelines for parents in their role as primary educators and gatekeepers of the home when faced by negative pressures by their children and other parents. We need to communicate the Catholic faith to the next generation so it takes hold and endures. Our role is basically to assist the Holy Spirit's transforming work. Our kids deserve the fullness of our Catholic faith (our roots) and wings to allow them to fly!
Ask Yourself These Questions
Do you bring up God in your day-to-day living experiences to your kids? Are we raising kids who are transfixed by handheld devices all the time with no communal activities? Would you invite some of the performers of the music that your child may listen to into your family room? Have you taken the time to teach your children the virtues of purity and that their bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, or did you instead choose to teach your children about condoms, birth control, and safe sex? Do you, by example and words, stress a Godly attitude towards drinking and drugs, or are you waiting for some school program to give your child a "just say no" lesson? Do you keep your children accountable to you as their parent and guardian, or are you more interested in trying to be their best friend and get them to like you? Does your home live by the words in Joshua "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" or have you left your children to find their own way in this world full of temptations, sins, and evil?
Be different from your parents and don’t skirt the moral questions. It is proven that parents have the greatest impact on whether kids engage in premarital sex, smoke, get tattoos or partake in other risky behaviors. Yet parents often remain mum on these topics. The more that kids are barraged with information from the Internet, from media, and from electronic devices they’re plugged into, the smaller the circle of voices they trust.
The perfect time to talk to your child about drugs is when you think they're too young to talk about using drugs. Talk to your child before someone else does. So too, we must initiate our children at an early age into the mysteries of the faith and teach them the morals and values of our faith. It can be such an awesome duty to help them grow in faith by the witness of a Catholic life in keeping with the Gospel. The great principles of God are to be taught, practiced and cultivated in the home by us, their primary educators.
Let them see how your faith affects every aspect of your life and how Jesus Christ is your compass in making the moral decisions in your life. It means your faith is not just being a Sunday Catholic and not just something that you do but how you live, so much a part of your life so that you can’t help but bring it up at the dinner table. You end up talking about what happened in the news or praying for people who are sick and hurting.
If you want your kids and their friends to be in your company, stock the fridge with food, schedule game or movies nights for them, create an inviting fun atmosphere.
To make Mass more of a time that they get to go to church rather than have to go, try asking your kids what they thought of the Sunday homily. Ask them what they might have said about the Gospel if they’d given the homily that day.
It means not giving into letting a child have a TV or computer in their room but in a common area that is supervised. We also should be attending to what, and how much, electronic entertainment kids consume: TV, movies, music, video games, web activity...there's pluggedin.com and Godtube as alternative tools!
Tell your kids why you refuse to buy their clothing from Abercrombie & Fitch (with their advertising of models barely clothed). at the very least they’ll respect you for your point of view.
We must respect our children's faith journeys. However, while we can do many things for our children, we have to let them find their own way to God, even if means watching them try things we ourselves have tried and know lead to dead ends, even after they leave home. In their very real struggles to find God, the nourishment they need is from you. So live your faith out loud. Live it openly at home so your children catch it, learn it,will ask about, and grow in it. That’s how faith gets in them!
"My son, if your heart be wise, my own heart also will rejoice; And my inmost being will exult, when your lips speak what is right." Proverbs 23:15-16
Be different from your parents and don’t skirt the moral questions. It is proven that parents have the greatest impact on whether kids engage in premarital sex, smoke, get tattoos or partake in other risky behaviors. Yet parents often remain mum on these topics. The more that kids are barraged with information from the Internet, from media, and from electronic devices they’re plugged into, the smaller the circle of voices they trust.
The perfect time to talk to your child about drugs is when you think they're too young to talk about using drugs. Talk to your child before someone else does. So too, we must initiate our children at an early age into the mysteries of the faith and teach them the morals and values of our faith. It can be such an awesome duty to help them grow in faith by the witness of a Catholic life in keeping with the Gospel. The great principles of God are to be taught, practiced and cultivated in the home by us, their primary educators.
Let them see how your faith affects every aspect of your life and how Jesus Christ is your compass in making the moral decisions in your life. It means your faith is not just being a Sunday Catholic and not just something that you do but how you live, so much a part of your life so that you can’t help but bring it up at the dinner table. You end up talking about what happened in the news or praying for people who are sick and hurting.
If you want your kids and their friends to be in your company, stock the fridge with food, schedule game or movies nights for them, create an inviting fun atmosphere.
To make Mass more of a time that they get to go to church rather than have to go, try asking your kids what they thought of the Sunday homily. Ask them what they might have said about the Gospel if they’d given the homily that day.
It means not giving into letting a child have a TV or computer in their room but in a common area that is supervised. We also should be attending to what, and how much, electronic entertainment kids consume: TV, movies, music, video games, web activity...there's pluggedin.com and Godtube as alternative tools!
Tell your kids why you refuse to buy their clothing from Abercrombie & Fitch (with their advertising of models barely clothed). at the very least they’ll respect you for your point of view.
We must respect our children's faith journeys. However, while we can do many things for our children, we have to let them find their own way to God, even if means watching them try things we ourselves have tried and know lead to dead ends, even after they leave home. In their very real struggles to find God, the nourishment they need is from you. So live your faith out loud. Live it openly at home so your children catch it, learn it,will ask about, and grow in it. That’s how faith gets in them!
"My son, if your heart be wise, my own heart also will rejoice; And my inmost being will exult, when your lips speak what is right." Proverbs 23:15-16
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Purpose of my blog
- What are parents to do?
- When I was putting together my webpage, catholicresourcepages, I found that there are no real Catholic devotions online. After finishing Jeff Cavins Great Adventure Bible Study, reading up on the catechism, and other resources, I decided to write posts on catechism topics like sexuality, the deadly sins and heavenly virtues, the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit and other everyday themes of life. When we school our kids in the faith, point our kids toward heaven, pray for them and release them into God's hands, our children will be able to grow into the people they were called to be and less likely fall away from going to Mass and slip spiritually. Fight back with my Faith Lessons so you can teach them the why's instead of just the don'ts...to help parents be armed with talking the faith during family prayer time...your kids will be listening even if you think they aren't since you'll be planting the seeds for them for the future! Thanks for visiting and guiding your child in truth. My hope is your kids will ask for them (when really it is the family togetherness that they are longing for).
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