The Influence of the Media on Our Children:
Instructive or Destructive?

By Bishop Paul S. Loverde
Herald Columnist
(From the issue of 6/7/07)

Parents fulfill a lofty calling — indeed, an inalienable “right” and “duty,” according to the Catechism (2221) — as their children’s primary educators. In this task, they reach out for encouragement and assistance from a network of extended family, friends, teachers, the parish community and beyond. These intentional choices — about where their children will spend time — are fundamental to the spiritual and moral formation of their sons and daughters.
If we are to believe the statistics, many parents instead are allowing an encroaching network of media — e.g., the Internet, iPods, video games and online communities — to form their children.
This is the crisis which Pope Benedict XVI turns to in his recent message for the 41st World Communications Day, “Children and the Media: A Challenge for Education.” He writes, “Indeed, some claim that the formative influence of the media rivals that of the school, the church and maybe even the home.” To ensure that our children navigate the use of media with prudence Pope Benedict calls on us to take a proactive approach to teaching our children “skills of discernment” when it comes to the media.
Vigilance
Parents are their children’s guardians. As such, they assume primary oversight with regard to their children’s use of the media. This is no easy task — our children spend their days between home, school, friends’ homes, sports practice and other places. It may seem impossible to observe them at all times. Yet the monitoring of TV, Internet and other media usage is critical. In the fall of 2006, I wrote “Bought With a Price: Pornography and the Attack on the Living Temple of God,” a pastoral letter which addressed the pervasive presence of pornography in our culture as well as our responsibility to live with purity of heart. “Christians today live in an age unprecedented for the ability to communicate and find information. Sadly, a great amount of the information available on the Internet is pornographic in nature.” We must supervise and scrutinize our children’s use of media so that the scourges of pornography and violence do not enter the sanctity of our homes. For example, “Insist on strict and clear controls on any child’s use of the Internet. Internet use in the home should always take place in family areas. Children, even older children, should not be provided Internet access in the privacy of their rooms. Technology controls on both computers and television should be a routine part of family media use” (“Bought with a Price”).
Respond Appropriately with “Skills of Discernment”
Pope Benedict also urges us to educate our children to respond appropriately to media. “Educating children to be discriminating in their use of the media is a responsibility of parents, church and school,” writes the pope. “They (parents) have a right and duty to ensure the prudent use of the media by training the conscience of their children to express sound and objective judgments which will then guide them in choosing or rejecting programs available.” By watching quality programming together with their children and discussing it afterwards, parents can be actively involved — rather than allowing their children to passively watch programs in isolation. We must be responsible for educating our children about the half truths that appear in the media in the form of bias, misinformation and neglect, and in so doing, “be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves” (Mt 10:16).
This Sunday, June 10, the second collection will benefit the Catholic Communications Campaign and the diocesan Communications Office, both of which seek to communicate the Good News through the media of our time — with Web sites, educational videos, TV programming and other materials. One way we can meet the “challenge for education” of which Pope Benedict speaks is by supporting this important collection.
Evaluate Our Own Media Usage
In closing, are we, as adults, making the best use of media in what precious time we have? Are we setting an example for our children and those who look to us for guidance? The words of the Holy Father are applicable to us all. We must honestly audit our personal usage of media in the light of our primary call to holiness, and in so doing, set a clear example for our children.
Pope Benedict’s entire World Communications Day address is available online at www.vatican.va.

(c) Copyright 2007 by Arlington Catholic Herald