A few days ago I came across this cool website from the folks over at iShineLIVE.com. Basically, it’s a calculator that adds up all of your media time (TV, internet, cell phone, video games, etc.) with all of your “real world” time (family time, church, sports, etc.) and gives you a breakdown of your media diet. Here’s a little more about it:
Mass and digital media rivals parents, school, and faith as the most influential content in children’s lives. This calculator and the report it creates is a tool for your awareness of the influences in your family. We need to become intentional about our family’s media diet. This report is for anyone of any age.
I was certainly surprised by how those few minutes add up by day’s end. It’s tough to be honest about who is really raising my daughters when I look at these results.
Let me be completely clear .… This calculator isn’t meant to be a guilt trip. Use it as a tool to become aware (and share with other parents) that we need to be more deliberate about what our kids consume. We would never let our kids eat primarily candy and only sometimes supplement with nutritional foods . In the same way, we must be aware of their media intake vs. real life interaction.
After using the media diet calculator myself (which is free and took maybe two minutes) I immediately saw the value. I guess I wasn’t surprised by the results; I know I spend A LOT of time on my computer and cell phone. I just didn’t realize how much. This is definitely a tool worth passing on to the families in your church.
Click here to use it now.
How is media impacting the kids in your church and how you do ministry?
–Jeff
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Jeff McClung 