Did you grow up watching Little House on the Prairie or The Waltons? How about Emergency or Remington Steele? I know I just dated myself because some of you are shaking your heads recalling these shows and others are shaking your heads in confusion. My family and I watched these shows together. Not once did my mother have to wince at offensive language. Not once did my father have to explain some off-color remark. Where have the family-safe television shows gone? Even the sitcoms involving families with children of various ages use profanity. In fact recently I viewed a show with very young children thinking maybe the language would be better. The show actually had the youngest child spouting off profanities.
Call me old fashioned, if you will, but I'm trying to raise my daughter to not speak using profanity. Trust me, I know from experience that kids will repeat what they hear from parents and the television. I believe - garbage in, garbage out. That means whatever we feed our minds is what will come out of our mouths. The Bible says it this way: "Out of the heart, the mouth speaks."
In the fallen world we live in, I know there will be unavoidable "garbage." But, I can choose to fill up on what pleases God and teach my daughter to do the same. We have a collection of clean movies, and we devour Christian books. When we do encounter bad language, offensive remarks, or situations in TV viewing, we discuss why we don't speak or act in that manner.
Okay, I'm hopping down from my soapbox. If you encounter some good, wholesome shows, please let me know. Now, excuse me while I go and catch a Little House rerun. The good ol' days ....