Television’s Affect on Children

Warm sunny weekends prompted times that my parents did not allow me or my siblings indoors. I still remember trying to sneak my way into the living room to watch the Saturday morning cartoons while everyone resided on the deck. Although my dad disapproved, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Tom and Jerry filled my agenda and sparked my interest. However, to my parents, kids should not have been inside on a beautiful sunny day. My step brother and I were forced outside many times to play with our Tonka Trucks or Matchbox Cars in the dirt. We did not quite appreciate that at times. However now when I look back, I honestly have to thank my parents for doing that: not allowing my brain to become a rotisserie oven. After awhile of adjusting to no television, my mind was forced to create its own entertainment and before I knew it, I wandered the forests out back from sun-up to sun-down every chance I got. I would fight off enemies, make alliances, and take over kingdoms! I was ruledr there, in the small one acre wooded area, but it was mine nonetheless. One of the most important lessons I learned during these years of childhood was to never complain that I was bored. If I did, my dad would hand me a toothbrush and send me to the bathroom to scrub the toilet.

Sadly, in these modern digital days, parents do not react the same way as mine did. Turning on the television to silence a crying two year old has become a sufficient means to end the inconvenient discomfort. Story books, crayons, outdoor activities, and sixteen year old babysitters have been replaced by Cartoon Network and The Disney Channel. A study concludes that “twenty percent of two to seven year olds, forty six percent of eight to twelve year olds, and fifty six percent of thirteen to seventeen year olds have TVs in their bedrooms.” Television earns the undivided attention of two to seventeen year olds for approximately twenty five hours per week; three and a half hours a day. The amount and the content of television watched impact a child’s reading and other academic skills (Institute on Media, Television’s effect). Television can affect children and youth in a negative way by obscuring values, weakening their health, and affecting later adolescent behavior.

When children watch television, they intercept the values of other peoples. Over the course of time, I have found that values differentiate from culture to culture, country to country, and area to area. Everyone has values and as Jeanette Winterson once said, “What you risk reveals what you value.” (Quotes) Values dictate the choices a person makes and those choices determine the life a person leads. In the 1920s marriage was a value amongst people. Living together out of wedlock was nearly unheard of and strictly frowned upon. It was proper to date, court, engage, then marry and move in together. Now, in the 21^st Century, marital values are backwards comparatively: two people will meet (of the opposite or same sex), date, move in together, engage, and then marry. (Sometimes they skip the dating part.) Values can define a person. What does that person wear? What does that person say or talk about? Where does that person spend their leisure time? What is that person not willing to part with? One must ponder where these values come from. How do they change? I think a main factor to the answer of that question is television. Television normalizes what used to be outlandish. How do the foreign and outlandish values of other people affect our children when they sit in front of the tube and watch the display of filth, murder, thievery, sex, drugs, fighting, and profanity?

Television, especially an excessive amount, can affect a child’s health: mental, physical, and aggressive health. Children who watch three or more hours of television per day display a decline in their reading ability (Institute on Media, Television’s effect). I once heard from a respected community leader that television is projected in an up and down motion. You may recall this from older movies when you could see the pictures from the film moving from top to bottom in a fast motion creating the illusion of movement among those portrayed in the pictures. The faster the film tape moved, the less likely you were to see the brief pauses in between each slide. This soon gave the effect of a motion picture. The same is true today. The motion picture in television is still moving in the same fashion, just faster and clearer. You do not notice this; however, subconsciously, your brain still captures the individual slides. If a child constantly watches television, habituating her brain to the constant up and down movement, it is thought that the child will have more difficulty reading because reading is a side to side motion for the brain.¹ Furthermore, a child’s physical health may be in jeopardy due to an excessive amount of television. “Regardless of race or ethnicity, those who watched four or more hours of TV each day had a greater proportion of body fat than kids who watched two hours or less,” (Joseph, “Budding Couch Potatoes”). More so, children who watch a considerable amount of television a day risk injury or bodily harm. The distortion of reality, the constant death of immortal cartoons, the perfect infallible high jumps of martial artists, or the high speed thrill of fast car movies account for the increased chance of injury (Joseph, “TV viewing and risk”). In relation to the risk of injury, the risk of aggression, violence, and injury to others becomes a possible issue. “A range of studies found evidence that subjects exposed to violent filmed models were subsequently more aggressive,” (Tulloch, “Violence and Television”). A child watching their favorite action hero could begin to act out or imitate what they saw on television; these actions could range anywhere from punching, kicking, biting, cursing, or even pointing toy or real guns at other people. I remember my cousin when he was young, no older than seven years old, holding a steak knife at his mother’s throat cursing in her face, mainly because she wouldn’t allow him to do something he wanted to do. Where did he learn this action? Among the family, we concluded that he had learned it from the Chucky movies. How many stories on the news have there been about young children shooting their parents, taking guns to school, stabbing their siblings, or going on high speed chases with police?

Therefore, watching television, and increasing the aggressive rate among children, could lead to later troublesome adolescent behavior. What does television teach our children? Does it teach them that one can fly if he straps homemade wings to his arms and jumps from his housetop, or does it convince a child that shooting someone will just make their face spin around? Do movies teach our children sex first, marriage later? “What are children viewing on television that could be so bad”, one might ask. From the crazed Coyote on Roadrunner from Jerry Springer, “I’ve had more lovers than meals,” a child sees and absorbs these images, these ideas, and these values and may grow to be someone who may also portray the same behavior. They may have sex before marriage, and learn to buy diapers on their way home from their job at a fast food restaurant. They may take a gun to school because someone looked at them wrong, ending up dead or being lead down town in the back of a police vehicle.

Why is violence among children and teens on the rise? To answer that question, one must go to the source. I think one major source is the affects of television on children. It can advertently lead to mental problems, health issues, and misbehaving juveniles.

¹ I do not have a source for this information but it was given to me by an intellectual that I trust.

Works Cited

Joseph, Jennifer. “Budding Couch Potatoes.” ABCNEWS.com. http://www.drwoolard.com/peinnews2/tv_linked.htm.

Mercola, Dr. Joseph. “Television Associated With Children's Aggression.” Mercola.com. 2009. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2001/04/04/tv-children-part-four.aspx.

Mercola, Dr. Joseph. “TV Viewing Tied to Child Injury Risk.” Mercola.com. 2009. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/01/02/tv-viewing-tied-to-injury-risk.aspx.

“Television's Effect On Reading And Academic Achievement.” National Institute on Media and the Family. 17 July 2002. http://www.mediafamily.org/facts/facts_tveffect.shtml.

Tulloch, John and Marian. “VIOLENCE AND TELEVISION.” The Museum of Broadcast Communications. http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/V/htmlV/violenceand/violenceand.htm.

Winterson, Jeanette. “Quotes: Value.” About.com. 2009. http://quotations.about.com/cs/inspirationquotes/a/Value1.htm.

Christians and the Environment

Have you ever seen one of those signs along the road declaring that a person or a community adopted that particular highway? Have you ever wondered what that meant? I used to wonder what it meant. As a youngster at that time, one could only imagine what went through my mind when I equated what I knew as adoption to a highway. Not far from where I lived, there was one of those signs that declared that Bear Creek Baptist Church had adopted that highway. I attended Bear Creek Baptist Church on a regular basis. My first summer there as a youth, I found out what it meant to adopt a highway. With orange vests, pointy sticks, big orange bags and lots of drinking water, we spent the entire day cleaning the trash and liter off the sides of the road. We did not stop there however; we continued on and cleaned up a few other roads. Amazingly, we enjoyed it. Every summer the Bear Creek Baptist Church Youth went out on this road, draped in orange, and cleaned our local environment.

According to the Department of Transportation, Americans burn two hundred million gallons of gasoline a day by driving our vehicles (Influences). Approximately seventy thousand people die early deaths caused by heart and lung related illnesses (The Light Party). Christians today should concern themselves with our environment locally and then expand our contributions and concerns worldwide.

How can one begin to help, restore, and preserve the world we live in? I believe that we, as Christians, can start with ourselves. For the smoker, how common and habitual is it to throw your cigarette butt out the window? When brushing your teeth, how long do you let the water run? How many empty water bottles have you thrown away or how many times have you scored jump shooting a ball of paper in the trash bin? How often do you choose plastic over paper at the super market? These are minor habits we each have in our daily lives that if we change them, we help the environment little by little. To save well over 2.5 billion plastic bags a year, approximately twenty-five percent of American families, Christian families included, would have to choose plastic ten times less and choose paper instead (Influences). For each ton of paper we choose to throw in the recycle bin rather than the garbage bin, we can help America save three hundred eighty gallons of oil. Contrary to popular belief, the butt end of a cigarette is not biodegradable. The white fibers in the end of the butt are not cotton but a form of plastic, which can last as long as other plastics in the environment (Cigarette Butt Liter). Furthermore, we, especially as Christians, need to learn not to waste what we use and use only what we need. “The more you conserve, the less you have to recycle.” (Clendennen).

I live relatively close to an ocean inlet where there resides a dock, a landing, and a lot of miniature crabs. I remember when I used to take strolls down to the landing to look out on the ocean. I remember I went down there once and discovered, as the tide was out, that beside the dock, there was an old, but very large tire in the water. Along side of the tire rested debris of sorts: empty glass beer bottles, tin cans, tangled fishing lines, a shoe, a mud soaked shirt, and a few other unnatural objects. On the surface of the water, if the light from the sun hit it just right, I could see engine fuel waste floating on top, purple and green in color. Fish and crabs, and a lot of other living creatures lived in that water. I had made a mental note one time of the stench that came from the landing area and one day I discovered why: a dead fish. A fish, a flounder, had wrapped itself in some of the tangled fishing line. When I found it, crabs were picking away at it. Although the sight and smell was horrid, I knew that that flounder wouldn’t have died, likely, if the debris hadn’t polluted the area. I later found out that toxic chemicals enter our waterways every year polluting the environment for wildlife and polluting our own drinking water (The Light Party).

Human waste is becoming a problem in our world. The United States alone, which is approximately five percent of the world’s total population, produces thirty percent of the waste in the world (Bicycle Greenway). In Australia, a shire implemented a plan to reduce or recycle human waste. The worm farm was built in 1997. Basically they use worms to eat human waste and turn it into fertilizer and then sell to those wishing to grow plants. The treatment plant receives eight thousand mega-liters of sewage a year. (About four thousand full sized swimming pools.) “The worm farm produces 200 cubic metres of worm castings per week, which is 10,400 cubic metres per year,” (Ian).

We as Christians know that there is a proper way to handle and treat God’s creation. God created the heavens and the earth and all that was in them and saw that they were good. It says in the Bible that God knows every fowl of the air and every creature of the ground. It also says in the Bible that God provides for His creation. When Jesus taught, for instance, that we shouldn’t worry about what we shall eat or what we shall wear because if God can take care of the smallest creature on earth, feeding it every day, He will take care of us, His beloved. Notice, in Genesis at creation, that when God gave man dominion over the earth, it didn’t mean for men to raze earth, but to raise it. When He created Adam, He put Adam in Eden and told him to take care of it. (Deem)

We as Christians should do the same thing with the world God has privileged us to live in. He created this world for us, to live in, be happy and fruitful. He never intended for us to pollute and destroy it. We need to begin small, locally, correcting what our earlier generations have done.

Works Cited

Cigarette Butt Litter. “Are cigarette butts biodegradable?” Clean Virginia Waterways. http://www.longwood.edu/CLEANVA/cigbuttbiodegradable.htm.

Clendennen, Andy. “Preserving the environment: energy- and cost-saving alternatives to recycling abound.” Washington University. http://news-info.wustl.edu/tips/page/normal/5375.html.

Deem, Rich. “Is Christianity anti-Environmental?” Evidence For God. Feb. 17, 2007. http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/environment.html.

Human Influenced Facts. “Facts and Figures, Did you Know?” ThinkQuest.com. http://library.thinkquest.org/11353/facts.htm.

Ian and Luke. “Worm Farm.” The Redlands. http://www.virtualclassroom.org/99/vc_45/bsssenviron/Wormfarm.htm.

Light Party, The. “Environmental Facts.” The Light Party. 1996. http://www.lightparty.com/Economic/EnvironmentalFacts.html.

National Bicycle Greenway. “Environmental Facts.” Cycle America. http://www.bikeroute.com/EnvironmentalFacts.php.

Children and Work

My Dad told me at the age of fourteen, that I would one day want a car. I, of course, did not oppose his assumption. “Well you’re gonna have ta work fer it,” he told me. So that summer, he hooked me up with a job in construction. I worked as hard as a fourteen year old boy could and my boss told me I worked like my dad, always on the go. I took pride in his compliment. If there was anyone in the world I had wanted to be compared to, it would have been my dad. Needless to say, I did not make a killing that summer: five dollars an hour, cutting trees, dragging brush, and digging and filling holes. It got me started though, and more importantly, gave me a taste of what it meant to work for something. I believe that the values of a culture or community greatly impact the education a person receives. And believe it or not, there are several cultures in America that directly disagree with each other. For example, I used to live in the mountains, near a small town. Men were men: manly men. They were hard working providers. A man was judged by his peers on how well his family functioned. Then I moved south, near the beach and the youth of America, and the culture was backwards. The community did not expect a young man to participate in hard manual labor but to go to college and use his mind. Although both afore mentioned cultures likely value family, the course in which they take in providing for the family is completely different, one frowning upon the other.
Whether by using one’s mind or by using one’s hands, I think it wise to teach a child the meaning of work and chores.
“[I’ve witnessed] the child doing all the dirty work and the parents getting the fun: Mom cooks and Sis does the dishes; the parents plan and plant the garden, the kids weed it. To me, what this teaches the child is the lesson of alienated labor…” (pg. 274) stated Jane Smiley in an essay against chores. She argues that parents should not subject their children to chores but instead never expect them to lift a finger. Smiley states that she thinks that to force a child to do chores would teach a child to hate work.
I must point out, however, that if someone does not first learn how to follow, how can they possibly learn to lead? In other words, if someone does not learn how and why a garden needs to be weeded, how could they ever be expected to know how to plan and plant it? In my opinion, chores do not enslave children, but teach them why. Why do we do the things we do? Why does the garden need to be weeded? Why do the dishes need to be cleaned? Why do the dogs need to be fed? Why do the floors need to be mopped, the bathrooms cleaned, the laundry done? Do we do it all for our health? I assure you, no. Most middle class people did not become middle class people because they left their house in a shambles or waited till the bathtub was so disgusting that it would benefit them more to clean it than to leave it. What answer corresponds to the question “Why”? To put it simply, teach children responsibility and prepare them for life. Imagine someone who grew up never having washed laundry. They would quickly come to find, I’m sure, they were out of things to wear.
I, of course, disagree with Jane Smiley full heartedly. I remember the times I did chores when I was young. Although, at times, I complained about them then, feeding the dogs, mowing the lawn, I knew then and I know now why I had to do those things. Yes they taught me responsibility, but more importantly, they built character. Doing chores helped me become a person afraid to get dirty, change the oil in my neighbor’s car, or help an elderly lady change a flat tire. Doing chores taught me integrity, and gave me a new respect for my parents who worked all day to provide for me. Before long, I remember, I was not doing chores because I had to, but because I wanted to. I wanted to help out. If I could do something to make things easier on my parents, I jumped to it. For example, I would pick up my laundry, rinse my dishes, take the garbage out, or wash the vehicle. Parents do so much for their children it would be decent to do something in return, to honor their parents, and to thank them.
There are, however, some chores I still loathe. If my siblings or I had been disrespectful in any way, our punishment was not a spanking (although that was not out of the question) but it was to pick rock. We had a very rocky yard, so as a punishment, we were to grab a five gallon bucket, go out into the yard, and fill the bucket with rocks to dump in the nearby woods. This was punishment indeed but it taught us character. After my first rock picking experience, I did not get into much trouble. I cannot say the same for my older brother though. I’m quite sure he de-rocked about eighty percent of our yard, with a knuckled head.
So in saying, Jane Smiley argues that chores give children the wrong idea of work but I do not agree. Chores and work for children can build character, teach responsibility, and nurture a child to adulthood.


Works Cited
Smiley, Jane. “The Case Against Chores.” To The Point. Gilbert H. Muller and Harvey S. Wiener. New York: Pearson Education, Inc., 2009. 274-276.

Ramblings at most

In today's society it is thought that people are born naturally good and made bad by some circumstances in their life. This, however, is not biblical. In reality, people are born naturally bad and are made good only by the washing and cleansing of sins by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Christianity sets the basis and foundation of morals, values, and decency. It also laid the foundation for which this country was built. Someone without Christ is, in essence, a bad person, an enemy of God. Would it be too irrational to suggest that someone who is not of Christ is an enemy of this country? Probably.
In what way can we trust someone in this country, to make a good decision, who does not have Christ in them and is an enemy of God? Also, how can one expect someone who has no Christian morals or values to understand what is right and what is wrong? Yes, I know everyone is born with a conscience (which means, with knowledge. Con- with science- knowledge) but if the Holy Spirit is not leading that person, giving that person understanding, how can we, as a people, trust that person to make good decisions? We can't. I don't only speak of the leader of this country, but of people all around the world who are not Christians.

However, at this point, we have to acknowledge two things: one, we have not always been God's and two, the world's view and God's eyes are not the same. All in all, according to the world, most people are decently good people. According to God, no one is good. In one's own eyes, one would say, "I am a good person." Everyone in this world speaks of their own goodness. But, are we really good?
Have we ever lied? Stolen? Blasphemed? Committed adultery (which, by the way, most people have by lusting alone)? Have we committed murder (also most people have by hating one another)? I myself have answered yes to each of those questions. So admittedly, I am a lying, thieving, blasphemous, murdering, adulterer at heart. Am I a good person? No. I am the same as anyone else. I am no better. I am no worse. Especially in God's eyes. One thing folks have to understand is that sin is sin to God. There is no measure of sin, as in, one sin is no worse than the other. So, murdering someone is just as bad as telling a little white lie. And for both, we have broken God's law and are guilty. What are the wages? Death. Hell.



People don't understand this. They say, "..but God is merciful and loving. He wouldn't do that! He wouldn't send us to hell!" Yes indeed He would because although He is most certainly a loving merciful God, He is also righteous and just. If you look at the two, how, one might ask, can they possibly coincide? God made it happen! That's the Good News! That is the Gospel! The Good News is, although we have committed these disgusting sins, God has made a way that He will bejust and righteous to "admit" us into heaven. How?
Let's take a look shall we?
All fall short of the Glory of God. (Meaning, all have sinned.) The wages of sin is death. In order for our sins to be forgiven us, there must be a shedding of blood. Not just any blood, but good clean blood not blemished by sin. Whose blood could that be? Who is perfect? Who is not blemished by sin? Jesus Christ. Jesus, God, came to this earth, born of the virgin Mary, (why a virgin!? WhY!? Because when one is born of the seed of man, we are born into sin. Jesus was not born of the seed of man, he was born of a virgin...therefore, sinless) grew up, remaining sinless, and died and shed His blood for us, so that we, if we accept His gift of salvation, if we accept that, in our place, Jesus died for us, will be forgiven, washed by His blood and admitted into Heaven to sit at the hand of God for all glorious eternity.


Eternity eh? We are all eternal creatures. We all live forever. The difference? Some people choose to live in hell as some choose to live in Heaven.
I've thought about it, and I don't like to say, we will live in heaven forever. Why? It puts time on our presence there. When we die, time no longer exists. So to say forever, would imply that there is time, of which there is not. We will just be. Be in one place, hell, or the other, Heaven.

Growing up

To a lot of people, especially the younger generation, growing up is a big deal. From the time we were children, it has always been asked of us, "What will you be when you grow up?" I think that questions like that do strengthen us as children to have dreams and strive to make those dreams happen. It prepares in a way.
However, one thing I have begun to notice as I get dreadfully older is that one thing I was not prepared for was loss. I never thought of the fact that by me getting older, so was everyone else. This is when the reality of loosing a loved one comes into play. Grandparents get older and will eventually die. Parents, uncles, and aunts will as well. Then siblings and cousins. Not to mention the brutal deaths of some which could include early deaths of your spouse, your nephews and nieces, perhaps even your own children. That is just family. You will also loose friends.
I was never prepared for any of this. I wasn't prepared for my friend's death. We're not even sure what the cause of death was yet. Then, exactly one week after her death I had another friend commit suicide. I wasn't prepared for that. Recently, my friend's dad passed away in what seems to be an early brutal death. My dad is still alive and I love him dearly...but I got to thinking that when you loose someone, is it even possible to not think you could have been there for them more, could have spent more time with them, could have known them better? Is it possible not to regret? Is it possible to feel that, even though you couldn't prevent their death, that maybe, when they were alive, you could have made a bigger difference? Is it possible to use that and begin to make a difference in the people you do have left in your life?
I am a Christian indeed and I have very big and very good news to tell people...but have I? regrettably, no. My first friend I did try and talk to her. I, however, didn't push. I wish I would have. As for my second friend, I feel most burdened about. My uncle asked me time and time again to talk to the guy about God. To perhaps even hang with him and try to influence him. Did I? Not really. I tried, once to strike up a conversation with him about God, but it wasn't the right time. But because I didn't push, look what happened. I waited too long. Now he is gone and I will never get that chance back. So, from what I understand, and I hope I'm wrong somehow, but I don't think he, or she, are in a good place. I feel responsible for this. I could have at least tried.
The thought of this brings me to another state of mind. I had better get a move on. I had better start telling people, especially those I am close to, of the good news I have for them. Am I strong enough for that though? No. But neither was David, Moses, or Noah. Am I afraid to do it? of course. I could loose friends and family due to this Truth that I hold.
You know something though? I can't save everyone; I can't save anyone actually. My point is, however, that I should at least try. Right? I think so.

A little peom I wrote

Good News

Most are enslaved
To things as such
From malice to envy
To the ungodly touch

They keep their minds
In gutters abound
With every curse
And every ill sound

From hate
To unbelief
They sit in circles
Applauding the Thief

Yet the lost are blind
They can see no’thing
It is the Light that will illuminate
The everlasting King.


-Jimmy Wells

Alittle about me, before and after.

Life for me before I became a Christian lacked certainty. I spent years searching for something to fill the void in my heart and only found temporary fulfillment in sin, such as gossip, sex, lying, smoking, cursing, telling and listening to dirty jokes, and possessions. In doing all of these things, my life rendered meaningless and without purpose. I realize now that in trying to fulfill that void, I sought a reason for my existence, my life; a reason for life in general. I would ask myself, "Why am I here?" Lost and in the dark, I lived a directionless lonely life full of depression and emptiness.

I had tried in many ways to connect with God, through prayer, reason, bargaining, coaxing, and even threats if He didn't answer my prayers. Nothing ever came of all the insignificant endeavors except for seemingly boundary less emptiness. I had some thought of joining a small church right down the road from where I lived. Of course, I had no intentions of accepting what God had to offer: His awesome gracious plan of salvation, which is in the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ. It surfaced from my own desire for a feeling of safety, security, peace, and comfort. I, however, never did make it to that church and probably never would have, due to procrastination and fear. As chance has it, an opportune happed upon me to meet a girl by going to church with her. Her father, the pastor, introduced me to Jesus, and from that day forward, I've been a Christian. Her family took me in, so to say, and treated me graciously. I'm thankful for that.

Living the life of a Christian for about six years now, I look upon the time when I lived without God and I realize the differences of who I was, who I am, and who I want to be. I am now burden-free and completely fulfilled. My life has meaning, purpose, and reason. God changed me from living a self-centered, arrogant life to becoming a self-sacrificing humble child of God. Jesus opened my heart and eyes and revealed the Light of the Truth to me. My sin had been forgiven and it had nothing to do with what I have done except by surrendering my life to Christ and acknowledging Him as my Lord and Saviour. My purposeful, eternally promised life became what it is now only by the amazing grace of God, and by no other means. Although my life is not completely burden-free, God provides ways and means for me to persevere. God has filled me with love, given me direction and guidance and hope and faith, He has comforted me, given me strength and perseverance, provided deliverance and saved me from death. He has laid upon me peace and joy and worth. I am found and no longer blind.