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Media Safety
The Media would have us believe that we are powerless to change the world for the better. We know differently!
"The
Brady Bunch" and "Gilligan's Island"
were my favorite television shows. I was able
to see my favorite movies through a school sponsored
summer movie program. We had an Atari that played
several variations of "Pong." I typed
my college English papers on an Apple Macintosh that
could only run a word processing program.
Today,
kids' favorite television shows are "reality T.V.,"
cartoons with subject matters that would make some adults
uncomfortable. I dare not let my kids see a movie
unless I have seen it first and made a personal decision.
My children have access to video games whose graphics
are so advanced they appear real. Computers can
now process words and accommodate world-wide conversation
and association through chat rooms and web-cams.
With
each passing year, society becomes both more technologically
advanced and more socially and morally regressive.
This dichotomy of advancement and regression necessitates
personal responsibility in making choices for ourselves
and for our families. Fortunately there are ways
to exercise that responsibility.
Internet
Safety
Internet safety is
an entirely more difficult goal to achieve. It is extremely
difficult to regulate, and there are no rating systems
for parents to use as guidelines. The most effective
tool available for keeping our children safe on the
internet is education.
Movies
The
movie rating system has become increasingly more liberal
and requires parents to use their best judgment.
There are several web-sites that review movies for very
specific content. Here are a few of my favorites: www.parentstv.org,
www.FilmValues.com,
or www.Kids-in-mind.com.
Keep in mind that some of the reviews are very explicit
in their descriptions. While this allows for the
most informed choice, it would not be good for your
fourteen-year-old to read. If you are not going
to allow him/her to view the movie, you would not necessarily
want them to read details about why.
Music
Coming soon.
Television
Increasingly,
people have insisted that like the movie rating system,
the television, music and video/computer gaming industries
label their products age appropriate, or at least indicate
whether there is offensive content. This has been
fairly successful. It is now possible to choose
television programming for our families by the standardized
ratings for television programming. These ratings
can be reviewed at www.mpaa.org/tv/. These ratings
are only guidelines, and they are set by the television
industry themselves so beware. Ideally, parents
should watch television with their children. Parentstv.org
is a valuable source of information on television show
content. There are other products available as
well to aid in filtering and limiting what is accessible
for viewing on your television. Some of these
include the V-chip, available in most newer models of
televisions, and the TV-Guardian. For further
information regarding these and other products see www.FamilySafeMedia.com.
Games
The
Entertainment Software Rating Board exists to provide
ratings for video and computer games. It can be
reviewed at www.esrb.com.
This rating system is very general and does not give
any specifics as to content of a specific video game.
There are many stores who will allow you a few minutes
to play and view a video game before purchase.
This is an ideal way to make choices as to what is appropriate
in your home.
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