Monday, May 18, 2009

Arthur Supporters and Television





For those of you who allow your children to watch Arthur, you may think again once you know who/what is behind this television series. HERE is an article a friend e-mailed me and thought you'd enjoy reading it. It's scary to think of how liberal children's television shows are getting. As Christians, we are to love others and not just the ones we choose, but God commands us to love everyone. HOWEVER, that doesn't mean we need to accept the lifestyles of others.
As parents, we are quick to turn on the television and if we see a cartoon, we resort to thinking that it's child-friendly and we quickly begin doing a task and not watching with our kids. Rob and I have always been careful about what our kids watch for this very purpose. There are a lot of children's shows we don't support (one example, Sponge Bob) for one reason or the next. The shows that we try to support are ones where moral values of kindness, generosity towards others, putting others first, etc. are portrayed. Here are some questions to ponder on when turning on the television for any age of child...
1. What is this show/movie going to teach my child? Is there any educational value here?
2. Are there any real life-lessons to be learned through this show?
3. Are characters being kind to one another or are the making fun of each other, hurting someone physically or internally, competing materialistically with others, etc.? The materialism in our society has gone out the roof folks!
4. Does this show use a villian and if so, is my child too young to watch it?
5. Is there any Biblical value learned from this show and how can I tie it into teaching my kids about the Lord?
6. The big question...dun, dun, dun...how much tv are my kids watching each day? Could they be doing something outside or hands-on instead?
If we want our children to strive for excellence, then we have to set a high standard parents. I think it's so neat that Bill Cosby named each of his children with an "E", reminding them to always strive for "E"xcellence!
I'd love to hear YOUR feedback on what you think about the article, tv limitations or just comments in general. How much tv do your kids watch per day? Is it a consistent time each day, like when you're going to make dinner or a reward after morning chores are completed? What do you think, parents?

2 comments:

Kayleigh and Brian said...

Kayleigh only occasionally watches t.v.--like maybe once a week if she wakes up early on Sunday and we're still getting ready for church. She's too busy to sit and watch a show, anyway.
I definitely have issues with the Buster program, but I can see how it would be a good starting point to talk about different backgrounds and what we (her parents) think about a gay lifestyle. Unfortunately, in the world we live in, our children are going to be exposed to gay families (there is at least one at Kayleigh's day care!), and as parents, we have the responsibility to teach our kids what we believe is right and wrong before people of the world have a chance to get to them.

Kelli said...

Interesting article. We've never watched Arthur. I do have an issue with making it so normal. Yes we are to treat others like God would but He doesn't support that and it's all over the place these days. We don't do Sponge Bob either...I just don't like him. My kids watch too much TV and Rondell and I are working on slowly reducing it and spending more time doing other things. It's going well so far. I think kids need to explore and we as parents need to as well. It helps me to slow down and teach them and appreciate them!