Many Christians also use Paul’s teaching from his letter to the Philippians, "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things" (Philippians 4:8). Some Christians feel that many television programs do not fit into the above, and therefore have a negative attitude towards these programs.
Research has also proven that the more television that a person watches, the more violent he or she is likely to be. This is of course a generalisation, and obviously this isn’t true for everyone who watches television. However it does give an impression of the effect TV has on people’s lives.
The Journal of the American Medical Association has published evidence of a 100% increase of murder within 15 years of TV being introduced in a region. 15 years is the time it takes for a three to five year old to reach the most common crime committing age. David Grossman, a military expert on the psychology of killing believes that the media, and television and computer games especially are training children to kill. He says that children are desensitised to violence at an early age, and that they are indeed conditioned to derive pleasure in violence. This is shown by the popularity of violent action films. He also claims that this trains children to violent as a reflex action.
All Christians believe that Christian value should be promoted in the media. The Roman Catholic Church believes communication media are marvels and gifts from God, but they also recognise that these gifts can be mixed blessings. The church states that users should practice discipline and moderation in their approach to media, and that public authorities should ensure public morality is not endangered through misuse of the media. However, many parents, not just Christian ones, feel that a large proportion of the content of television programs and shows is immoral.
The Bible teaches that "as a man thinks in his heart, so is he" (Prov. 23:7). What we view and what we think about affects our actions. And there is plenty of psychological evidence to support the theory that television viewing affects a person’s view of the world and life in general.
Therefore I feel that a good Christian parent has every right to monitor his or her child’s viewing, and indeed they should do, so that society as a whole can be improved.