There is a powerful image on the back of the book The Child Influencers (now out of print but available at Amazon used). It is a reminder of how much time parents spend with children today and how much control the media has over our children.

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Contrast “Little House on the Prairie Days” with today. Parents interacted almost every hour of the day with their children. The technical advancements of TV, playstations, and computer games combined with duel parents working make parents average interactive time with children less than 30 minutes a day. Temptation to conform to this world (Rom. 12:1-2) has never been greater due to the enormous influence of media.

According to the A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American watches more than four hours of TV each day (or 28 hours/week, or two months of non-stop TV watching per year). In a 65-year life, that person will have spent 9 years glued to the tube.

• Television Influence
• Television Statistics
• Media and Discernment

The Center for Screen Time Awareness offers this advice for controlling TV time:

1. TV-Proof Your Home
2. Read TV-free families Tips for Turning it Off and Suggestions for Coping

Just remember this: every hour your children sit in front of a TV screen is a piece of their life that they’ll never get back.

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