Keeping our kids sheltered

MagentaYenta

Mon, Sep 07 2015, 10:43 am

My children were all raised pre internet, but their TV viewing was limited to 1 hour a night on the weekends, which pretty much eliminated summer time viewing. Any books that were on the shelves in family areas were fair game.

Just because I permitted children to watch something like Labyrinth, didn't mean I was promoting magik. It meant that there was a teachable moment in an imaginative film that was an allegory about the timeless battle of good vs evil.

Like others here I preferred to teach kids discernment.

balabusta

Mon, Sep 07 2015, 8:35 pm

I don't know how many here have teens. My kids range from 37 (pre smart phones/net) to 17. The shmutz out there is terribly destructive, not just to kids' Yiddishkeit, but their mental health as well. I'm currently locked in an argument with my dd17, who is boarding OOT at school. At her school filtered phones are allowed, and she has a "neb" phone (talk/txt only). I'm not allowing it as I know it's like putting a bomb in her hand, cv's. Teens have incredibly strong yetzer haras. I have one son whose clandestine smart phone use actually pulled him right off the derech. It's really VERY dangerous and they don't have the maturity or life experience to properly filter themselves.

PinkFridge

Tue, Sep 08 2015, 7:02 am

Balabusta, I suspect I may be closer in hashkafa with you than some other posters here are. My hat's off to you for your efforts in being mechanech your kids to be responsible citizens and members of klal Yisrael. My kids' age span isn't as big as yours but I've seen big changes too.

I assume that you are in contact with mechanchim and mechanchos from your daughter's school to determine a good balance in your ideal goals, and what will the best thing in practice with a long term picture in mind. It could be that the people on the ground - the teachers in your daughter's city - might have a different approach. It could be they won't. If you work in concert with them, I think your daughter will be able to be mekabel well. Of course, this could backfire and she'll feel that everyone's ganged up against her. But I think she will actually end up feeling that everyone's working in her best interests.

It could be that if your daughter was in your home, in your town's school (not knowing anything about where you're from) your local school and daas Torah would advise differently. But I will assume you made an informed decision to choose this school, and now you have different partners to work with.

If you're doing this already, kol hakavod. Iy"H you should see great peiros.

amother

Beige

Tue, Sep 08 2015, 7:27 am

I once bought little rascals for a long car ride. I remembered it being clean and cute. My four year old picked up on all the negative parts and was constantly repeating the "Dear Darla" letter. Before telling my kids we wouldn't be watching it anymore, I explained how the kids weren't being nice... I realized that I should stick to things like Barney, Thomas, curious george and caillou. If I do give screen time, its usually max of 15 minutes to calm them down from a busy day. The youtube kids app is great because it turns off when the timer is done.