Raising Children in a World of Endless Entertainment

A Two-Part Blog Series for Mothers, Grandmothers, Educators, and Anyone Who Helps Form the Hearts of Children

As mothers and educators, we know raising children today brings questions that previous generations may not have faced in quite the same way.

Our children are surrounded by stories, characters, games, videos, music, social media, and entertainment from an incredibly young age.

And while entertainment can bring joy, creativity, imagination, friendship, and adventure, it can also become something more.

What are we allowing into our children's hearts and imaginations? This is the question that has been on my heart as a mother and educator.

I want to invite you into a new two-part blog series where we pause together and explore this question not from fear or judgment, but from love, faith, wisdom, and discernment.

I am not against fantasy.

I am not against imagination.

I am not against adventure.

I love books. I believe deeply in literature's power to open children's minds, expand their vocabulary, awaken their creativity, develop empathy, and introduce them to courage, sacrifice, friendship, good and evil, and the consequences of our choices.

My own children grew up reading wonderful literature such as Little Women, Oliver Twist, Pippi Longstocking, The Lord of the Rings, and The Chronicles of Narnia. Just name some.

But as parents, we are also called to look more closely at what we put in front of our children.

We can ask:

What is this teaching my child to admire?

What is becoming normal through repeated exposure?

What values are being celebrated?

What is this forming in my child's imagination?

And perhaps most importantly:

Is this helping lead my child toward God through truth, goodness, beauty, and virtue?

Part One: What Are We Allowing Into Our Children’s Imagination?

In the first part of this series, I will share some of my personal experiences.

I will talk about my love of reading and the arts, my experience as a mother making decisions about literature, and why I never found the right reason or justification in my conscience to let my children read Harry Potter.

I will also share a moment with my son, now 23, when he came home from school with Pokémon. Rather than simply saying, “No,” I sat beside him. We talked. We looked at what he was encountering.

Together, we began to discern what reflected our Catholic faith and what did not.

That experience reminded me of something I believe deeply:

Our children need more than rules. They need formation.

They need us to teach them how to think critically, question, recognize what is good, and eventually make wise choices for themselves.

Part Two: When Entertainment Becomes Formation

In the second part, we will broaden the conversation.

We will look at the entertainment culture surrounding our children today, including Pokémon, Harry Potter, anime, collecting, violence, sexuality, spiritual themes, and desensitization.

This will not be an attempt to place every story, every family, or every form of entertainment into one category. Instead, I want to encourage us to look at what we are actually consuming and consider what repeated exposure may be forming in our children.

Because entertainment is not always “just entertainment.”

Sometimes, what we repeatedly watch, read, play, collect, and admire begins to shape what we see as normal, desirable, funny, beautiful, powerful, or acceptable.

And that deserves our attention.

A Conversation, Not a Judgment

My hope throughout this series is not to tell another mother what she must allow in her home.

Every family has its own circumstances, and parents must prayerfully discern what is appropriate for their children.

Instead, I hope these reflections encourage mothers and educators to pause.

To ask questions.

To have conversations with children.

To look beneath the surface.

To pray.

We all need to remember that our children are not simply consumers of entertainment.

They are souls being formed.

Their hearts are precious.

Their imaginations are precious.

And the responsibility of helping nurture them is both beautiful and humbling.

Beginning Tuesday, October 13th.

This two-part blog series will begin Tuesday, October 13th.

I warmly invite mothers, fathers, educators, grandparents, and anyone who loves and works with children to join me in the conversation.

Come with your experiences.

Come with your questions.

Come with an open heart.

Let us reflect together on how we can help our children navigate a world of endless entertainment while staying rooted in truth, goodness, beauty, virtue, and Christ.

Please join me beginning Tuesday, October 13th, for Part One:

What Are We Allowing Into Our Children’s Imagination?

I look forward to sharing this conversation with you.

Let us pause. Let us read. Let us discern. And above all, let us help our children learn to choose what is worthy of their hearts.

  Image made with AI