By Gavin Boyle
While it may seem like children will always have a way to access mature content, parents should implement barriers to this content, as what children are exposed to when they are young have a major impact, Movieguide® founder Dr. Ted Baehr.
Baehr writes in his Media-Wise Family book:
It is important to re-institute the mechanism for shielding children from information they are not mature enough to handle. Cultural institutions such as the family, church and school used to perform this role, but with the advent of television all the content and taboos of adult life are available to everyone at all hours simultaneously. The result is children who are left unprotected from the adult world (Neil Postman). They are seeing things that they know are bad, but ho one is trying to shield them (David Elkind). Children may make the assumption that since their parents allow certain programming into the home, they must approve of it. This covers the menu from hate-mongering neo-Nazi’s to date rape to gratuitous violence.
While cable used to be the problem because children could flip to any channel they wanted — exposing them to whatever was on TV — streaming has not improved the situation, as most content on these services is still inappropriate for young eyes. Many of Netflix’s top shows, for example, end up being way too mature for kids and younger teens because of sexual themes, violence, foul language, or, most likely, a mix of all three, Ted Baehr writes.
SQUID GAME is perhaps Netflix’s biggest show ever, and it created a cultural phenomenon that drew in millions of kids. However, medical experts warned that it was not suitable for a young audience.
“The level of violence is horrifying — more than most shows,” David Anderson, Head of School and Community Programs at the Child Mind Institute, said in a statement. “It’s a murder fest with the premise that out of over 400 participants, there can only be one survivor.”
Yet, Netflix pushed the show to younger audiences, especially for the launch of season two then it created a SQUID GAME video game and made it available for anyone to play, even if they didn’t have a Netflix subscription.
There are countless examples of extremely mature TV shows and movies being targeted at young audiences, with the entertainment industry feeling little pressure to stop. However, thankfully, Christian media is on the rise, and more and more executives are focusing on creating family-friendly content than in recent decades.
Prime Video, for example, recently partnered with Jon Erwin to launch Wonder Project, a studio creating faith-based content for the platform. Their first show, HOUSE OF DAVID, has dominated the streamer’s charts, remaining within the top five titles throughout its release.
“Our goal at the Wonder Project is to tell stories that restore faith in things worth believing in, and to do this at scale,” Kelly Hoogstraten, a former Netflix executive, said during The Wonder Project’s HOUSE OF DAVID announcement. “We’ve been blown away by Amazon’s commitment to help us do this — both through the significant resources they are dedicating and their trust in us to tell these stories authentically to our audience.”
Related: HOUSE OF DAVID Slings Into No. 2 Spot on Prime Video
Rather than supporting the mature content pushed by the industry, Christians should support the faith-based content now becoming popular. Not only will it encourage the industry to continue to invest in Biblical stories, but it will set a good example for our children and expose them to uplifting stories, rather than mature themes.
Read Next: Jon Erwin Explains Why He’s Opening a Faith-Based Movie Studio
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