Plugged In…Are You?
Imagine a bowl full of salt mixed with a tablespoon of pepper. Now compare that to the minds of our children. The salt is all the good and right that we try to instill in them while the pepper is the negative influence that attacks them on a daily basis through culture and media. We try to pour virtue and Godly character in, but sometimes it feels as though the odds are stacked against us. As a Christian parent, my first instinct is to pull down the shades, deadbolt all of the doors, and keep my children in the confines of the safety, love, and care of our home. Although that isn’t all bad, it isn’t practical. My children will one day grow up and have to become a functioning part of society and it is our duty as Christian parents to prepare them for it. Culture has evolved and changed, and with each passing year, it seems as though it is more crass, vulgar, and Godless. We may not be able to protect them from every attack from the outside, but there are some things we can do, and that is the subject of our blog today.
I would like to introduce you to a website called PluggedIn. PluggedIn is a resource of Focus on the Family and is a website devoted to informing parents about the content of music, literature, tv shows, and movies. PluggedIn gives a very detailed account of the following elements in a movie: Spiritual Content, Sexual Content, Violent Content, Crude Language, and Drug and Alcohol Content. The reviewers give a very detailed overview of the movie’s positive and negative elements, and each movie is rated with a PluggedIn Rating of 1 to 5, with 1 being poor and 5 being very family friendly (movies are the only category with a given rating). Music Reviews will reveal the lyrics and content of songs along with implied and underlying messages. The Book Reviews on PluggedIn will bump you over to another website called thrivingfamily.com (which is another resource of Focus on the Family) where you can review the content of books that may be available to your children.
It can be a very daunting task to preview every single movie, book, or song that a child might have access to. That is why I am so grateful for a service like PluggedIn that has done the footwork for me. On the go with a Smart Phone? Download the PluggedIn app for quick access to movie reviews!
As a parent, it is a God-given duty to filter, to the best of our ability, what our children see and hear. We may not be able to keep all of the pepper out of the bowl, but we can certainly minimize the amount that’s in there.
Although this is directed at Christian parents regarding the culture to which our children are exposed, I find myself using this tool to guard mine and my husband’s minds as well. Husbands and wives should be accountable for what they put before their eyes, which will be the topic of a future blog.
Want to see a sample of a movie review? Watch this YouTube video:
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