Media can be family-friendly

Lining my bookshelf are several videos about one of the most popular figures in the world. These tapes include a couple of biographies and half-a-dozen documentaries. There's even a movie re-telling his early life.

No, it's not Leonardo DiCaprio or Tom Hanks who has merited that many hours of videotape. It's Pope John Paul II, and the existence of so many home videos about the world's foremost Catholic says something about the importance, power and benefits of modern media.

Most families know how dangerous the media can be. TV shows that glorify random sex and rented movies that should come with a calculator to tote up the dead bodies cause many parents to ponder the wisdom of even owning a TV set, much less letting it pour images into their family rooms for seven hours a day. But tossing out the old Sony is like setting fire to the local library because it contains objectionable books. What will also get lost in the conflagration are children's books, great works of spiritual insight, collections of art and even the Bible.

Advantages

The proliferation of cable/satellite television networks has brought something families should cheer about: a plethora of options. It wasn't that long ago that parents and children had only three or four choices when they sat down together to watch TV. Now they might have 200 or 300, including channels (like Odyssey) that are devoted to religion and outlets (like Nickelodeon) that aim at children. That means that mothers and fathers can comb through the TV Guide to select the best and discard the rest.

For example, families can opt for The History Channel, The Learning Channel and A&E. All three have shown documentaries on religion, exploring the origins of the Bible, examining the history of the papacy, and offering biographies of such saints as Joan of Arc and Patrick. They also present educational material on everything from the Civil War to modern medicine.

Programming

Furthermore, many Church organizations and religious orders are producing their own videos: lives of the saints, documentaries on the Blessed Mother, education on the sacraments and guidance on prayer.

Computers

Of course, the content of many web sites on the internet has moms and dads justifiably worried, but there are also sites devoted to prayer, saints, the Church and children's interests. You can also get off the internet and use the CD-ROM in your home computer. It can run ultra-violent games, but it can also run such software as "Charlton Heston Presents the Bible," an in-depth examination of Scriptures which includes readings by the actor on the actual sites in the Holy Land. At your own speed, you can find out what you never knew about the Gospels.

The media can definitely be an enemy of families. Switch your TV dial to MTV or Jerry Springer for a quick example or two. But the media can also be good news -- even the Good News -- to families smart enough to use television, computers and other outlets for their benefit.

(05-20-99) [[In-content Ad]]