Entertainment

Setting Guidelines, #2

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Al Menconi
President, Al Menconi Ministries
February 5, 2001

Last time we discussed the need for you to set entertainment guidelines for your family. I was encouraged by the positive response we received, but many stated that they didn’t know where to start. Many wanted me to make specific guidelines for their family, as well. I can’t--or should I say I won’t--do that. It is up to the parents to set the specific family guidelines, not some old guy like me who doesn’t know your family. What I can do, however, is offer some suggestions that proved to be successful for my family as my daughters were growing up.

I want to remind you, God didn’t die and leave me in charge! These are simply ideas that may help you "prime the pump" to come up with your own family guidelines.

Have no more than one television in the house. If you have more than one TV, you are tempting your family to be more fragmented than they already are. A second TV will make it easier for your children to isolate themselves from the rest of the family by choosing to watch the other television. This is especially of concern if the second television is in your child’s bedroom. In many families sending a child to his room isn’t punishment, it’s like being sent to his own personal amusement park.

Turn off the television when you are eating dinner. If the television is on while the family is eating dinner, you are implying that it is more important than they are. Also, dinnertime should be for the family to debrief from the day and discuss their interests. This is called communication. Television on during this vital time will crush any communication.

Never use the television as a babysitter. We always had to have an adult in the room when the television was on to help counterbalance any negative teaching that may slip in that is against our family’s values.

If the music, movie, or television show was openly against biblical values, it wasn’t allowed in our home. Why be so dogmatic? Would you allow strangers into your home to perform sex acts on your living room floor in front of your family? No? Then why would you allow someone to do that through television? Would you allow someone into your home more than once who used vulgar language belittling your God and values? Then why would you allow someone do that to your family through some means of "entertainment"?

I believe children need "their space" and we only went into their bedrooms when invited. My daughters had freedom to listen to secular music in their room if it wasn’t openly against biblical values. If the music was loud enough to be heard in the rest of the house, however, then they were invading our space, and my wife and I decided what we would listen to in our space.

Before nine in the morning and after nine at night, any music had to be Christian music. I wanted our family to be thinking about "things above, not things of this earth" (Col.3:1 & 2) first thing in the morning and the last thing at night.

These are just a few of the things we did when our children lived at home. We didn’t use them as a club to beat our children into spiritual submission. They were a simple guideline to help our daughters learn how to think biblically and to make wise choices. Hopefully, you will take them for what they are. They are not divine. Nor are they written in stone. They are simply suggestions to encourage you to set entertainment guidelines for you and your family.