Helping your Kids Survive Survivor

My boys decided that they were going to watch Survivor on Thursday night – with out my input – and when I realized that their eyes were glued to the show I intervened and counseled them (strongly) to turn it off and consult Mom and Dad before they view TV shows that are not part of our normal viewing.

We don’t normally watch Survivor and I’m not going to condemn the show outright but this got me thinking about the larger issue – how do I help my kids think about what they let into their brain – especially since I am not with them 24 hours a day. Locking them in their room is a solution that is not very practical, so we seek to go after things from another angle, we seek to form and shape our kid’s minds and hearts to look at life with a biblical worldview.

I received this article today from Christian Counseling & Education Foundation (CCEF) about this very topic and I highly recommend it to you.

Winston Smith gives some practical ways in which parents can equip their family to think accurately about the media’s powerful messages. Here are two key quotes from the article:

About helping our teens develop their media antenna . . .

One of the things I ask my kids to notice is that all media is created by people who want to communicate what they think about life. Advertisers and marketers are all trying to convince you of something. I tell my kids that just because it’s written down doesn’t mean it’s correct. There is wisdom in having a healthy skepticism. The value of this mental alertness is especially obvious in the case of television commercials, because advertisers simply want your money. The foundation for helping our youngsters develop their media antenna is to hone their understanding of the human heart. The Bible says we’re all self-deceived. As people live out their belief systems in front of others, our kids need to understand that they’re being exposed to someone’s worldview, which is frequently inaccurate or skewed when lined up against the Bible. Parents should try not to be reactionary. Rather, they should seek to gently challenge their kids to see what God’s Word has to say about such messages.

About the role of parents in this process . . .

Parenting is a path of individual wisdom; there isn’t necessarily a black and white set of rules. Parents need know their own kids and assess where each child is strong and weak. Moms and dads must ask themselves what their parenting goals are. As a father, my goal is to grow my kids into God-honoring persons of faith. I realize that as they move into adulthood, they cannot simply be rule followers any longer. Rather, they need to be wise decision makers. Parents have to understand their own transition from the rule enforcer to the wise counselor as their children get older. Our roles shift.