Screens and Screening
Be careful little eyes what you see; be careful little eyes what you see, for the Father up above is looking down with love, so be careful little eyes what you see. These lyrics are followed by the admonition to be careful little ears what you hear and be careful little feet where you go. Do you recall singing this song as a child, perhaps? I do. Simplistic, yet a powerful message for our day and time as it relates to children.I want to recommend a book entitled Screen Kids: 5 Skills Every Child Needs in a Tech-Driven Worldcopyrighted 2020. The authors (Gary Chapman and Arlene Pellicane) note in the front of the book several facts. After unveiling the iPad, Steve Jobs didn’t allow his own children to use it, and further stated that they limited their kids’ use of technology at home. Bill Gates banned the use of cell phones for his kids until fourteen. Did you know that many Silicon Valley executives opt for unwired classrooms with chalkboards rather than schools with tech-laden devices? What do they know that perhaps we don’t? They know the impact screens have on the brain and not merely the content which is on the screen, but they also know the potential for addiction.Do you want your children to have stronger attention spans, language abilities, working memory, and executive functioning skills? (Recall last week’s M.M. on executive functioning?). If so, the researchers in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study of 9 and 10 year-olds found that if daily your child 1) has at least sixty minutes of physical activity; 2) has no more than two hours of recreational screen time (that seems very generous to me); and 3) gets nine to eleven hours of sleep nightly, then it’s a good chance your child will develop those skills to a greater degree than a child who does not. Every skill mentioned is related to academic achievement to one degree or another.Pastor Mike Signorelli of New York City says, “I believe that every parent — not just a pastor, but a parent — has a mandate to actually screen material. Because every single device you have in your home is a portal, either a window into the things of God or, unfortunately, things that I believe are demonic.” That is why he felt the burden to share about this particular movie.What movie? Pixar’s Turning Red showcased on 3-11 on Disney+. Some themes in this movie revolve around the worship of self, false theology, Zen Buddhism, magical transformations, demonic rituals, just to name a few. A parent does not need to watch it in order to determine it is not appropriate for Christian families who are rearing their children from a Biblical worldview.Take heart, parents! There are resources available to you for vetting purposes.
- One is www.movieguide.org. Dr. Ted Baehr is the founder and publisher of this online resource and is the chairman of the Christian Film and Television Commission. Prior to moving to California and immersing himself in the film industry to make an impact for Christ, he and his wife lived in the Atlanta area and educated their children at The Heiskell School, the preschool-8th grade forerunner of RDS.
- If you go to www.kids.movieguide.org, you can find excellent short movies for children and book themes such as Babar, Beginner’s Bible, Liberty Kids, Little Bear, Madeline, Paddington Bear, and Curious George to name a few. Certainly, screen time should be limited and not take the place of reading aloud to your children.
As a reminder, our School has paid for you to have a subscription to Right NowMedia. Some of our favorites can be found in the "Redeemer Day School" library. Once you have created an account by following this invite link go to "Libraries" in the upper left-hand corner, then click on "Redeemer Day School". RDS Director Kerri Bounds has renewed this subscription as a resource to you; however, please know, we cannot possibly vet every movie.As always, we encourage the use of screen-time to be used minimally. The American Academy of Pediatrics urges parents to prohibit use of screen-time prior to the age of two.