We have alot of media on our home.
Obviously, I blog. My son has an ipod. We have a wii, netfliks and cable tv. I have a smart phone and a couple of our children have nintendoes. It seems that these days media is a part of everyday life.
And this is not necessarily bad.
Unless it becomes out of moderation.
I am seeking to teach my children that media is a tool.
It is not good or evil in and of itself, but it is how it is used.
Can I use my blog to glorify God and encourage other moms? Yes?
Can we spent some good family time playing the wii together? Absolutely.
Is it ok to play on the nintendo for some down time once in awhile? It is.
Can we watch educational movies through netfliks or cable? Yes indeed.
Can my android phone and my sons ipod touch be used for God’s glory? It certainly can.
But, can all these things be abused? Can my children suffer from my time online? Can I be pulled away from my children through this use of media? Can my children forget how to play because they get used to having to be entertained? Can they be separated from each other through being in their own little world of social media? Yes, yes, yes.
A tool is effective and so very good when used properly, but can be harmful if used improperly.
As a knife can and is essential in cooking in my kitchen, but can be harmful in the hands of a little child, so it takes maturity, discretion, guidance and constant re-evaluation with these media tools in our lives.
We are to take the media of our day and use it for the glory of God.
Here are a few things we have done to seek to do that…
- We have password protection on our cable and instant Netflix so that we can control what is being watched, if we desire.
- We are seeking to keep tight controls on how much and what is being put into our child’s minds.
- None of our children have their own cell phones as of yet.
- We are watchful over our children’s email accounts.
- Facebook, twitter, etc. is not a part of our children’s lives yet, but we do let them use buzz on gmail.
- We have a rule that if the device comes between the child and mom, it is taken away for awhile.
- As a mom, I am seeking to be daily aware of how much time I spend on the computer, and I am seeking to have more scheduled times for my blog.
Some of my children are more prone to be taken up with media then others. I have had to do a media fast with one child in particular. This little one would rather move from one media to the next rather than play with actual toys. I have to watch him carefully.
Do we do these things perfectly? Absolutely not. In fact, just yesterday I was not as watchful over my computer time as I should have been. We too often are not as watchful over our children’s ability to scan through netfliks to get to their favorite program.
These things take constant, daily watchfulness and evaluation. To throw away the tool would be the easy way. To use them effectively for the glory of God is more difficult.
May the Lord give us all wisdom to use our own tools for the glory of God, and to help our children use them wisely as well.
I am linking up with Courtney’s media series.