New Year’s Media Resolutions
2008 reality check.
by Jim Fair | Source: Catholic.net
I want to offer my New Year’s Resolutions now so by the time you read them I won’t have had the opportunity to break them. And with God’s grace, maybe I’ll actually keep them this year.
This is a specialized collection of resolutions, all involving the use of the media. In any event, here are some resolutions that I believe would help my state of mind (and soul) – maybe that of you and your kids, as well:
1. I’ll limit television viewing to an hour a day during the week and the length of a sporting event or movie on the weekend.
2. I won’t actually turn on the television to just “watch television” but to see a particular program identified in advance.
3. I won’t play a video game that requires the death and dismemberment of any living creature or the total destruction of a vehicle.
4. I won’t go to an R-rated movie.
5. I won’t talk on my cell phone while driving.
6. I won’t disengage from conversation from a living, breathing human being in order to answer my cell phone.
7. I’ll close my laptop computer during business meetings.
8. I will never use my laptop computer on a plane.
9. I will never use my cell phone on a plane.
10. I will not try to watch a football game and hold a conversation with my wife at the same time (the wife actually takes priority over the game).
The fact that I feel a need to make these resolutions is evidence of how much I sense that media have consumed my everyday existence. In fact, we are surrounded and often overwhelmed by media. As a result, our minds are often not where our bodies are, which makes for a considerable distortion of reality.
Do I need to be entertained by a television screen while I’m putting gasoline in my car? Do I need to see video commercials while riding in an elevator? Do any of us really need plasma screens to watch on the subway?
I don’t think so. In 2008, I’m returning to reality.
This is a specialized collection of resolutions, all involving the use of the media. In any event, here are some resolutions that I believe would help my state of mind (and soul) – maybe that of you and your kids, as well:
1. I’ll limit television viewing to an hour a day during the week and the length of a sporting event or movie on the weekend.
2. I won’t actually turn on the television to just “watch television” but to see a particular program identified in advance.
3. I won’t play a video game that requires the death and dismemberment of any living creature or the total destruction of a vehicle.
4. I won’t go to an R-rated movie.
5. I won’t talk on my cell phone while driving.
6. I won’t disengage from conversation from a living, breathing human being in order to answer my cell phone.
7. I’ll close my laptop computer during business meetings.
8. I will never use my laptop computer on a plane.
9. I will never use my cell phone on a plane.
10. I will not try to watch a football game and hold a conversation with my wife at the same time (the wife actually takes priority over the game).
The fact that I feel a need to make these resolutions is evidence of how much I sense that media have consumed my everyday existence. In fact, we are surrounded and often overwhelmed by media. As a result, our minds are often not where our bodies are, which makes for a considerable distortion of reality.
Do I need to be entertained by a television screen while I’m putting gasoline in my car? Do I need to see video commercials while riding in an elevator? Do any of us really need plasma screens to watch on the subway?
I don’t think so. In 2008, I’m returning to reality.
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