Teaching Morals: Part IV
"Teach Self-Imposed Censorship"

by Brandon Jubar

Teaching teenagers about morality takes almost constant effort.  Part I of this series discussed teaching our teens to think critically and make good, moral choices that conform to the teachings of the Church -- which are the teachings of Christ. Part II explored the idea that it's not enough to simply talk about the Gospel -- we must teach our teens to live it by addressing issues that they are facing today. Part III looked at the need to make sure that we're not undermining the lessons we're sharing by being hypocrites.

In order for us to act in a way that is consistent with the morals we are trying to convey, we must censor our own media consumption to a certain degree. Such self-imposed censorship is also something that we should be teaching to our teens.

Images That Stay with Us

There is an ongoing debate over the influence that certain things, such as violent song lyrics, have on the minds of young people. Whether or not music, movies or video games are truly the proximate cause of some violent acts may never be known for sure, but we do know that external images and ideas do affect our thoughts to some degree.

Sights and sounds stimulate the mind and can cause many images and ideas to pop into our minds unbidden. Who can deny that scenes from a racy music video are remembered when the song is heard later on the radio? And how often do teens recite movie scripts -- almost line by line -- when something happens that reminds them of the movie? What we watch and listen to can etch itself into our memories, destined to pop up again and again.

We Become What We Think About

It is crucial that teens learn to engage in some degree of self-imposed censorship. They need to exert more conscious control over what they read, what they view, and what music they listen too. All of these stimulate our minds to think. What we think about most of the time determines what we desire. And our desires have a tremendous influence over the actions we choose. That's why we become what we think about.

If we stop to consider the situation, common sense tells us that we must be careful in what we decide to view or hear. For in a way, we can shape our destiny by controlling what ideas we allow to enter our minds through the media. Isn't the same true for our teens? Perhaps it's time to start talking to our teens about the fine art of self-imposed censorship. After all, if they hear it enough, they can't help but start thinking about it!

Life Applications:

What images pop into your mind unbidden? What triggers them?
Why do you choose to censor certain things and not others?
Do you think your teen(s) practice some degree of self-imposed censorship? Why?

Copyright 2005 by Brandon Jubar
All rights reserved.