Posted on 03/13/2014 5:11:40 PM PDT by Kaslin
Even if you werent one of the 28.2 million Americans watching the 2014 Grammys last month, you probably caught wind of the controversy over Beyoncés raunchy performance of her song Drunk in Love, featuring her husband Jay-Z. Perhaps it was her lingerie-like outfit or her chair dancing or the part where Jay-Z grasped her rear, but this was one of those moments when parents find themselves putting their hands over their childrens eyesor flipping to another channel.
Beyoncé, a mother of a 2-year old, raked in tons of media attention for that performance. Some of the publicity was negative. The Daily Mail quoted many parents who expressed their disappointment via Twitter: It's a sad day when our kids can't even watch the Grammys. Forbes noted that Beyoncé, a self-claimed feminist, could have used her power to show that a woman doesnt need to be a stripper to succeed.
However, an alarming number of articles defended Beyoncés bold risk-taking and showered accolades on her for flaunting her size-2 body. Think Progress even claims that Beyoncé and Jay-Zs steamy performance is a case for marriage. Think Progress writer Alyssa Rosenburg claims, [I]f marriage is a product that conservatives desperately want to sell, the smartest thing they could do right now is to hire Beyoncé and Jay-Z as a product spokescouple.
Claiming that public displays of sexual behavior will promote marriage is ridiculous. Kids arent going to watch Beyoncé and Jay-Z and think, Gee, I cant wait to get married. Theyre going to go out and try whats been normalized on live television. Rosenburg, paradoxically, highlights a RAND survey that found heavy exposure to sexual content on television related strongly to teens initiation of intercourse or their progression to more advanced sexual activities (such as making out or oral sex) apart from intercourse in the following year.
Parents face an unfortunate reality: teens drink in this kind of performance not only when it airs the first time, but also when its replayed over and over on YouTube or other Internet sites. As a result, parents who carefully monitor their childrens exposure to televisions mature content often find themselves at a loss for ways to protect their children from seeing the very same episodes or shows on the Internet. A child who types Beyoncé or Miley Cyrus into the search bar gains immediate access to inappropriate TV contentbut on the Internet.
How To Save Your Family: Technology and Talk
While parents have grown increasingly savvy about using Internet filters on the home computer, Smartphones and iPads put children within reach of a nearly infinite amount of sexually explicit or violent content. Statistics show that 93% of kids use the Internet, 75% of them have cell phones, and nearly half of them (42.1%) admit to having seen porn online. And explicit or raunchy entertainment is freely shared on popular user-generated sites such as YouTube, Facebook, and Vimeo.
Fortunately for parents, Internet safety features have moved from the home computer to mobile devices. Mobicip and Net Nanny both offer mobile web filters that give parents the power to keep kids safe. In particular, parents can control access to sites like YouTube, as well as blocking inappropriate searches and websites through new safe browser features. Best of all, these tools now offer features such as remote management, multiple devices, and the ability to personalize restrictions for multiple users. Setting up these protections has never been easier.
Net Nanny Social even allows parents to monitor their childs social media use, including their friends, their photos and posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instragam, Pinterest, Tumblr, Google+, and more. From one dashboard, parents instantly can see discussions, photos, and new friendsand be in a position to protect their child from harmful bullying or inappropriate messaging.
Parents, dont be intimidated! Mobile access has changed everythingand the best providers have kept pace not only with technology but also with the changing nature of childrens communications. These new tools are not the old, clunky filters that blocked harmless content while inadvertently allowing some really harmful content. Nor are they time-consuming and difficult to set up. Providers offer step-by-step videos to help parents install protections on their childs device, and offer ready access to support services. Some cloud-based services, like Net Nanny Social, require only account names and passwordsit couldnt be simpler.
Of course, monitoring our childrens use of media is one stage of an overall parenting process that aims to help our kids eventually make safe, morally upright decisions about media for themselves. As parents, then, we must form our childrens hearts to desire whats good (and to avoid immorality) and teach them the practical steps that will protect themeven as adults. How? Talk. And talk some more. Find out what the popular social sites are in your childs world (Instagram? Snapchat? Gaming sites?) Open conversations about what people say online and the dramaand ruined reputations-- that ensue. Hear what your children have to say about their own experiencespositive and negative.
Listen first, and then teach. Most of all, let them know you love them and will be there for them, even if you discover theyve made some poor decisions.
Cyberspace isnt getting any smaller. The Internet hosts two billion web pagesand counting. Dont let an innocent click leave your child with harmful memories that last a lifetime. Take action and protect your childrentoday!
I have no sympathy for parents in that position who are "shocked, shocked I say" to discover inappropriate conduct on the part of Beyoncé, Jay-Z, or other popular entertainers. My kids have never been in that position because we don't watch live shows that are likely to include wardrobe malfunctions or to introduce new vocabulary words such as "twerking".
As if we didn’t know TV was nothing but garbage, and has been for years.
Turn it off, sign up for Amazon or a similar service if you have to, and control what is consumed by your family.
Problem solved. End of story. My kids might get cable when they move out of the house, and not a moment before that.
As in the days of Noah. . .It’s pretty sad when anyone has to endure trashy coming attractions prior to movies like Son of God, etc.
I know we are all sinners and can be saved by Grace. But how much more of this “city on a hill?????” country of ours can the Lord endure.
I don’t watch Beyonce; I don’t buy anything she promotes or sells.
She has me confused with someone who cares that she exists!
And then they go to school...
Put all the stops, filters, Nannys, policemen you want on YOUR possessions; that will have ZERO effect on what others have in their hot and sweaty little hands.
Are you still killing your unborn? -- GOD |
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