Televisions are in nearly every home in America. There are good programs and bad. We must choose the good because medical studies indicate that behavior in children and youth are definitely impacted by what they watch.

“Toddlers who watch too much television can become aggressive and suffer from poor attention spans, a survey published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine Journal, has claimed. Frederick Zimmerman, the author of the American study, said: ‘Excessive viewing before age three has been shown to be associated with problems of attention control, aggressive behavior, and poor cognitive development’.” (Daily Telegraph – May 8, 2007)

“Overweight children who watch television advertisements for food are likely to double their intake and the fattest children are most likely to choose the least healthy foods, a study published on Tuesday showed. The study by the University of Liverpool of 60 British children aged 9-11 years, published at the European Congress on Obesity in Budapest, showed the more overweight a child was, the more it would eat when exposed to adverts followed by a cartoon.” (Reuters’s News – April 29, 2007)

“White adolescents with the most exposure to R-rated movies were nearly seven times more likely to have started smoking compared to those with less exposure. Even after taking into account such things as having a friend who smoked, lack of parental guidance or doing poorly in school, those who watched more R-rated movies were still three times more likely to start smoking, the study found.” (Reuter’s News – March 8, 2007)

May we like the Psalmist resolve, “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.” (Ps 101:3) “It is a law both of the intellectual and the spiritual nature that by beholding we become changed. The mind gradually adapts itself to the subjects upon which it is allowed to dwell.” (GC 555) .