Hollywood vs the Family

An analysis of every major broadcast network and every prime time show that featured "family" as central to its story line finds that 99% of programs that claim to be about families are not actually morally safe for family viewing.

Tim Winters, President of Parents Television Council and the group that conducted the year long study, concludes, "What this says to us is that folks in Hollywood, they talk about shows about family, and they suggest it friendly for family viewing; in fact it's not."

He says, "It's very disturbing, very troubling and very disappointing..."

Most of us already knew that, but this is affirming.

However, the study also revealed something even more disturbing---something we have not seen in television programming until recently.


Winter says, "There is a growing amount of explicit content that is actually being delivered by children, the child characters in the show."

Hollywood is now exploiting children to carry their message to other children viewers, creating a kind of peer pressure which further authenticates and normalizes their message.

Winter says, "It's bad enough that shows about families aren't safe for family viewing, but when you have family characters in the form of children delivering the most explicit content, it's doubly troubling."

The PTC year-long study is linked here. It includes a download printer friendly version of the Full Report. I strongly suggest parents and grandparents be informed.

The findings include:

• 81% of shows about family contain sexual content.

• 94% of shows about family contain profanity.

• 99% of shows about family contain some form of adult content.

The link also includes a short self evaluation of your own family TV viewing habits and descriptions of a number of family TV shows.

Yesterday I wrote about the mental assault on children's minds in the public school classroom.

It is true that Hollywood is obsessed with making money, however, it is equally true Hollywood is obsessed with advancing a secular progressive ideology using television programming available in our homes 24-7.

Clearly, parents can control the flow to a great degree if they are vigilant. But with streaming through the Internet and other means of delivery, it is more difficult to monitor and control what the child sees and hears.

While this task can be wearisome and sometimes confrontational, it is well worth the effort. Our kids are worth it.

I personally believe it is even more important that we not only control what our children see, but actively and prayerfully teach them the Truth about sexuality, morality and life itself.

Jesus taught that the mouth speaks from the abundance of the heart. If the heart is filled with evil, evil will manifest itself in the individuals life; if good, good will be manifest.

As I read over the PTC survey, I was reminded of Proverbs 4:23, "Keep your heart[ some versions correctly use the word 'mind'] with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life."

The next verse instructs us to "put away" the evil mouth and "devious speech" that destroys the individual.

That would include the mouth and speech of Hollywood.

Be Informed. Be Vigilant. Be Discerning. Be Prayerful. Be Pro-Active. Be Blessed.