July 2003 Ratings System:
++ Christian - made specifically by Christians for Christians
+ Secular - but contains nothing offensive to most Christians, probably made by Christians trying to exert influence in secular media.
M Mature content. Not necessarily offensive, but parents should be careful before allowing exposure to children and pre-teens.
X Mature content. For mature teens, firm in their convictions and morals, who have received much parental guidance.
XX Contains very mature, problematic content. Parents should seriously consider restricting exposure to teens.
XXX Completely offensive. Not only should teens be restricted, but adults may want to question their own exposure.
Wuggie's Music, Media and More . . . .
Bruce Almighty / Movie / X
I recommend this movie!! What?!? Has Wuggie flipped his lid? Isn't this movie completely degrading and trivializing to God? Doesn't it take the Lord's name in vain several times? Isn't it full of base and crude and sometimes sexual humor? The answer is yes, yes, and yes. I gave it an X, didn't I? I don't recommend you sending your 11 year old with his or her friends. I recommend you take your 11 year old with you! I guarantee that this movie will be the catalyst for great conversations about God between you and you kids. What exactly are God's powers? Does Bruce really have all of them? In what ways is the movie like the real God, and in what ways is it completely wrong? What does Bruce do with his powers? How does this differ from how God uses his powers? What would you do if you had some of God's powers? Bottom line: In the movie, Bruce uses his powers for personal gain. In real life, Jesus laid down his powers and sacrificed His glory for our eternal gain. I encourage you to see this movie with your kids, and have these conversations with them.
"The audience is never wrong. They have a huge appetite for this, and we've got a responsibility to satisfy that appetite." -Sandy Grushow, Chairman of the Fox Entertainment Group, on the popularity of reality shows. New York Times, January 25.
Let's talk about the Internet, shall we? You have Internet access in your home and you have kids. Remember when your first child was due, and you child-proofed your home? Remember the time and money you spent putting those little plastic things in the outlets and child-proof latches on the cabinets? But now you may want to child-proof your computer. But how? And from what?
First, why should you child-proof your computer: Thirty percent of teenage girls polled by the Girl Scout Research Institute said they had been sexually harassed online.
93 percent did not tell their parents - worried that they would be banned from the Internet. Last month I surveyed our own Youth Group. We had 45 students at the meeting. 19 of them said they try to avoid pornographic sites but have accidentally found them. A whopping 36 of them reported having received a pornographic Email. Of those, only 10 said they told their parents, and 26 did not tell their parents. It isn't that they want to keep this information from you because they are bad kids. Here are the reasons they gave for not telling their parents:
"Everyone gets it. I didn't think it was bad." - Have you sat down with your kids and had a discussion about what they might find on the Internet, and what might arrive in their Email box? Have you made it clear what you think is morally right and morally wrong? Do your kids understand that just because something is pervasive doesn't mean that there is nothing wrong with it? MOST IMPORTANTLY: Have you had this conversation in a non-threatening, supportive, loving manner?
"Who cares?", "My parents know I get them, and they don't care." - This was the most popular response! Please sit down and have a conversation with your kids (if they're old enough to use the Internet, they're old enough for this conversation) about pornography. Please tell them that you do care, and you care very much about what kind of Email they get, what kinds of web sites they visit, and who they talk to online. Establish family guidelines. Let your kids have an important role in shaping the family guidelines - you retain final control. You must follow the same guidelines! Do something proactive (see below) to show how much you care. Actions speak louder than words!
"If I told them how much I got, they wouldn't let me use the computer." They are afraid you'll over react. Reassure them that there are ways to let them use the Internet in a safe way. Fortunately there are solutions. Use the tips below and everyone will be happy.
Wuggie's Internet tips:
#1 - DUMP AOL! Please seriously consider this. AOL's parental controls are a nice try, but not ready for prime time. They are a marketing tool, not serious filtering. AOL keeps a black list of words. It makes judgments about web sites based on these words (and other factors). There are two problems with this approach. First, Pornography purveyors have found ways around AOL's blacklist. Second, AOL's judgments shouldn't be your judgments. In my observation, AOL isn't making judgments based on Christian morality. Neither is Yahooligans, which claims to be a kid-friendly search engine. It is not, however, a Christian kid-friendly search engine.
#2 - AVOID POPULAR EMAIL SERVICES - There is another problem with AOL. It is so big and famous that pornography spamers, scam artists, predators and cult operators routinely target AOL with spam Email. What they do is watch AOL traffic and collect Email addresses. Then they send their unwanted and extremely offensive Email to these addresses. Having an AOL email address is like hanging out in the red light district waving your money. The same is true for any of the big outfits: Yahoo, Hotmail, MSN, etc. If your kids have their own AOL, Yahoo, Hotmail, or MSN Email address, and use the Internet regularly, they very likely have received this kind of Email, deleted it, and not told you. At least let's hope they just deleted it, but are you going to count on that? I'm a big fan of teaching kids the right morals and how to make good decisions; and then letting them make those decisions. It isn't right, however, to expose them to all of the temptation the world has to offer. Recommendations: Get an Email address with a Christian ISP (see below) or your kids can have their own Email address at Wuggie.org. Call me or send me an Email to set it up. It's free, they can check it world wide, and so far the bad guys haven't discovered it (and aren't likely to bother with it if they do).
#3 - GET A CHRISTIAN INTERNET SERVICE! Below is a small list of companies that offer Christian Internet Service (there are others). Most companies offer you the choice between full dial-up access (similar to AOL) or, for a very small fee, a filtering service for your current Internet Service Provider. That means if you have Comcast or some other high speed Internet provider you can continue to use it just like normal. You contract with the Christian Filtering company, and they act like a filter between your computer and the rest of the Internet. You'll never be aware of their service until you try to access a blocked site. The difference between a Christian Filtering Service and AOL's parental controls is immense. Instead of a blacklist of words, Christian filtering services usually keep a list of real web sites. They don't block breast cancer sites, and a porn purveyor cannot get around their list. They are Christians, so chances are that their judgments are closer to your own, and if you find a site that hasn't been blocked, you can suggest it. (Try that with AOL!) When selecting a service, be careful to read the fine print, and once you have signed up, test it out! Try to get to some pornography or other things that you want to keep out of your house. If you don't like the results you get, cancel the service (you did get a 30 day trial period, right?) and get a new one!
The List:
ChristianLiving.net
FamilySafeViewing.net
WWJV.net
Crosswalk.com
#4 - SOFTWARE OPTION. Another option is to buy an off the shelf software program that allows you to do the filtering yourself. It's much cheaper, since you buy it once instead of paying monthly for a service. The software resides on your computer and watches where you and your kids go on the Internet. You select both words and sites to block. This option gives you the most control. It also means you have to put in the time and energy to install it, set it up, and teach it what you want blocked and what you don't. Ideal for families with young kids, since it's real easy to choose a few dozen sites to allow and just tell it to block the rest of the Internet.
#5 - MONITOR YOUR KIDS' INTERNET TIME!!! I recommend that you think twice about allowing private Internet access in a bedroom - including yours. I recommend that the computer with Internet access be in a common room, like the family room, kitchen or den. Spend time surfing the 'net with your kids. Don't sign up for a Christian Internet service and then sit back and think that the bad guys can't get to your kids. It is impossible to block everything, especially news groups that change constantly, and chat rooms and instant messaging services where anyone can say anything. And what happens when the software or filtering service goes on the blink and it's 4 days (or weeks) before you know it's feeding into your house everything that you don't want?
Please, if you have any questions, call me or send me an Email (Mwuggazer@RedeemerBirmingham.org). I'll gladly help you with how to do any of this!!