Book Series: Women Living Well - Chapter 12

Parenting in the Digital Age

I feel my home was somewhere in between being strict or permissive, in comparison to other homes. My parents were strict, but also showed us grace in certain situations. We were spanked as young children, and grounded a few times when we were older. I remember losing my keys for a week one time and having to ride the bus to and from school as part of a grounding experience.

My parents were very careful with our media consumption. I was given a track cell phone with limited minutes, but was only allowed to use it to call my parents in an emergency situation or to check in if I was running late for curfew.

Social media did not exist until I was in college and my family did not get the Internet in their home until I left for college.

My parents only allowed us to purchase and listen to Christian music artists in our home.

Our family did not have cable so our TV options were very limited. We only had one TV in our living room so our family had to be in agreement on what TV shows we watched. We had to move the antennae in order to get our few channels to come in and the volume did not work on our remote so you had to get up each time you wanted to adjust the volume. Ha!

Video games did not appeal to me so this was a non-issue for me. My brother was limited to games approved by my parents.

My parents were very strict on movies. I was not allowed to attend an R-rated movie with the exception of "The Passion of Christ". If there was an inappropriate scene, my dad fast-forwarded through the scene.

My husband and I have a lot of media and technology in our home so it will be a little more difficult for us to limit our children's media consumption. We will have to decide together what the rules will be and at what age we will allow them to be exposed to certain aspects of media. It will certainly be a challenge for us in this day and age of technology. A much different battle than our parents had to fight during our growing up years!

Philippians 4:

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.
This is a wonderful verse to serve as a reminder when we considering what media we expose ourselves to, as well as a guide when we are deciding what media we will allow our children to consume. 

THINK ABOUT IT:

Write out the “things we are to think about” from Philippians 4:8 on a note card or two. Post them in a prominent place next to the TV, computer or cell phone charging station as a constant reminder for your family to keep their thoughts pure.

In Christ,
Arin