“Cindy, get out of the cookie jar, and you, Pat and Tim, quit teasing the cat. Why don’t you go watch T.V. for a while instead.”

Easily, glibly, without much thought or reasoning we entrust our children to the T.V.–the electronic baby sitter. Wonderful instrument it is indeed! But also a devilish wedge to pry us away from Christ and His commandments. Look at it this way: If you found your child gulping aspirins by the dozen, what would you say? Would you say, “fine Cindy” or “Pat” or “Tim”? Or would you be perturbed? Naturally you would be upset. To prevent such careless use of drugs we have safety caps for aspirins, and poison labels for dangerous medications. In fact the Federal Drug Administration has been so busy screaming “DANGER” to us about this food or that product of late that we are starting to wonder what is safe.

BUT where do we find warnings about the evils of T.V. today? Even our pulpits are practically silent about this hazard, especially for our covenant children. Do we forget that we are rearing “covenant” children, God’s children? Do we forget that at the baptismal font we solemnly said, “we do,” promising to rear our children in the doctrines of the church and to guide them in these truths to “the utmost of our power.” Has aUf conviction suddenly gone Bat like a deflated balloon because it is far easier to let the T.V., the electronic baby sitter do the job we promised to do?

In Deuteronomy 6:5–7 we read, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” A large order isn’t it? Do you think the life style advocated in these verses would allow us to entrust our covenant children to indiscriminate viewing of T.V.?

Of course we as parents must also be able to discern good from evil on T.V. As we watch we can become so engrossed in the drama of the situation that we forget its moral implications. Sometimes (all too often of late) it’s a suggestive scene, a bed room scene, or profanity. Or we sneak a peek to see how the Sunday ball game is coming. We can become so calloused by this constant viewing that we are not fully aware of the evils shown on the screen. In fact, I have often wondered if we could invent a device we might call “SMELLEVISION,” as an attachment to our television, so that when the materials shown became too putrid it would turn on a red flashing signal. TIlink of the impression these shows make on relatively innocent and unexperienced children. Exposing them to this dirt is like blabbing a sheet of white paper with India ink.

What does T.V. do to our children? Evidence is mounting that television is endangering the beliefs, values and behaviour of the young. Social scientists, child psychologists, pediatricians and educators have begun a serious study of the impact of T.V. on our children. TV. survey taker A. C. Nielson states that children under five watch about 23.5 hours of T.V. every week. And a typical high school student graduate has watched at least 15,000 hours more time than he has spent on any other activity, except sleep. In fact, television has become the most potent influence on beliefs, attitudes, values and behaviour of our children.

Michael Rothenberg, a child psychologist at the University of Washington, reviewed fifty comprehensive studies involving 10,000 children from every possible background available. He came to the conclusion that viewing violence tends to produce aggressive behaviour among the young. Rothenberg contends it is high time a cry of protest is raised against what he calls a national scandal. Chosen at random, here are a few of the reactions of actual youngsters: A fourteen-year-old in Los Angeles “Television is perfect to tune out the rest of the world. But I don‘t relate with my family much. We’re all too busy watching T.V.” An eleven-year-olli from Denver, Colorado, “You see so much violence that its meaningless. If I saw someone really get killed, it wouldn‘t be a big deal. I guess I’m turning into a hard rock.” A nine-year-old from San Francisco, “I’d rather watch T.V. than play outside because its boring outside. They always have the same rides like swings and things.”

T.V. can take hold of you like a drug addiction and warp your thinking. It mesmerizes youngsters so that they become zombies. They lose interest in normal play and fun and sit glued to the tube. What is the remedy? Some have gone so far as to say, THROW OUT THE MONSTER! or CHOP IT UP! and live a normal, natural life without it. In fact I have heard that the Netherlands Reformed Church does not allow members to own a T.V. In contrast, I still remember when some pastors of our churches hid the T.V. aerials in their attics so the congregations would not be aware of their addiction. Some folk have actually gone so far as to “throw out the T.V.,” but I don‘t know that that is the proper remedy. It may be somewhat like throwing away the diamond with the dust. We know T.V. is here to stay. After all, it is a gift of God–but the devil surely took over the instrument. The time has come to clean it up, by voice, by letters to the T.V. stations, to Congressmen, etc. WATCH, analyze, compare and instruct children about the evils of T.V. so that they will develop proper sense of RIGHT and WRONG. And mention in your family prayers that they be guarded from the dangers of that electronic baby sitter.

Third – limit the time allowed for your children to watch T.V. and be firm in maintaining the limit. Teach them to appreciate rainbows, flowers, trees and a shining sunset. Help them see the fun of real fun. Teach them games that will get the red and white blood corpuscles dancing about in their veins. Get them away from this do-nothing habit in front of the boob· tube. Teach them to use all their faculties and facilities for the glory of God. Supervised, sensible, sound limitation on T.V. viewing is part of the remedy. Then fourth, if things get too bad don’t forget THE TURN OFF BUITON. You know you are not forced to accept the garbage that some money-hungry programmers throw your way for the sake of profit. Remember you CAN TURN IT OFF any time you wish.

Then fifth, and finally, do you want a really dependable yard stick to measure the good or evil on T.V.? Then read and re–read Philippians 4:8 – “Finally, whatsoever things are TRUE, whatsoever things are HONEST, whatsoever things are JUST, whatsoever things are PURE, whatsoever things are LOVELY, whatsoever things are of GOOD REPORT; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on THESE THINGS.”