The Entertainment Industry Influence On Teens
When my boys were little, I would notice something on television and have them cover their eyes, or I’d hear something on the radio and change it right away. Believe it or not but the entertainment industry influence on our teens is more than you imagined. Here is how we are raising our boys not to be sheltered, but we are still monitoring the stuff our boys don’t need to see or hear.
The Entertainment Industry Influence On Teens
The entertainment industry influence on your family is more than you would like to imagine. From the social networks, magazines, and books, to the television portrayal of what is acceptable or desired you are always fighting against the outside influence on your children. While there are some good role models and influences out there, unfortunately, the battle is against those that are not. These tips will help you to protect your children from outside influences, without making them feel controlled.
Parenting Controls
As my boys get older, I see that there are more and more things that they do not need to see. There are some things that have parenting controls on it in our home. They’re not adults yet and don’t need full control over everything. While you will have to be careful to not block everything and make them feel that you are going overboard, you can easily choose to protect them from content that isn’t appropriate for their age. This is something you can quickly evaluate each year as your kids get older and mature. You can even add a program like Net Nanny to your computers and adjust the settings for various ages.
To Be Tasteful
We don’t want our kids shouting cuss words from the rooftops, so we teach them to be tasteful in what they listen to. Let’s face it, what goes in does come out. So if they are only listening to music with bad lyrics that’s probably what would come out when they talk! We try and teach them to be tasteful in what they listen to. Many artists that are trending also have clean albums that have edited out the foul language. This is one alternative that is a compromise you may be comfortable with depending on the content.
Censorship
No, we don’t allow our kids to watch whatever they want on television and the Internet. Actors and actresses on primetime television aren’t what they were 20 years ago. We do censor what our kids watch because our children don’t need to mock what they see on those shows. There is nothing wrong with setting reasonable limits and expecting your kids and teens to abide by them.
You can’t keep your child from hearing every bad word or seeing every provocative thing on television and the Internet, but you can censor some of it and teach them to make good decisions the rest of the time. The entertainment industry influence on your teens doesn’t have to be bad. There are many great influences out there you can encourage your children to follow.
My goal would be that if my child sees something they know I wouldn’t approve of, they will change it. We’re raising our kids to make their own decisions (and praying they make the right ones), but we understand we can’t be there to tell them what to do each and every time.
