TV May Be Bad for Children!

by Floyd Chappelear
Stand, October 1993

"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he ..." (Proverbs 23:7).

Image by Vidmir Raic from Pixabay

Learned thought patterns can lead to sociologically unacceptable behavior, liberals have finally learned. According to an article by Mike Woods (Scripps Hoard pl; j News Service), "some kids spend more time watching TV than going to school" and are learning things that do not benefit them.

"Researchers found, for instance, that commercial television is rife with negative images and stereotypes of women and minority groups, which the study said create or maintain prejudice and racism." As a result, liberals want these images reduced or eliminated from the TV marketplace.

Children should not be allowed to learn or practice prejudice. God repeatedly warns about such in several areas. Prejudice against the poor is condemned in James' epistle. Paul warns against prejudice in the favor of some in his letter to Timothy. Prejudice is an evil that needs to be ferreted out wherever it is found. Thus, children should be directed away from it. Political liberals are finally waking up to the insidious evil that is television. Sexism and racism are evils that must be "headed off at the pass as it were.

However, Woods' article focused on violence on TV and how it affects children. Again, he is right on the button. When children are repeatedly exposed to media violence they become desensitized and accepting of such. Thus, the more TV one sees, the more likely that one is to replicate the action in his own life.

Woods goes on to express concern over how many TV commercials a child sees because children "don't know the difference between programs and commercials." The parent is urged to monitor and limit the child's TV viewing. We applaud and agree.

However, one issue neglected in the article is the influence TV has over children's sexual mores. TV constantly presents a perverted view of sex and sexual activity. With but few exceptions, an episode of "Family Matters" comes to mind, sexual activity is given no more significance than having a wart removed. There are no spiritual or "value" considerations given in the media to such behavior. As a result, children are being desensitized to the morality of sexual behavior.

I once surveyed TV programs for several weeks (an incomplete task because so little time was devoted to it in any given day) to see what the media was saying about sex and marriage. I discovered that better than 95% of the depictions of ( or disscussions concerning) sex involved unmarried people. Children are being taught that sex between married people is the exception rather than the rule. What a twisted, perverted, message to be teaching children.

Funny thing, though. When religious people protest the messages concerning sex on TV the liberals ridicule the idea that children will be affected by it, but are not getting exorcised about the same effect where sexism, racism, and violence are concerned. Let's hope they wake up fully.