Monitoring What Your Child Reads

More and more, I am shocked and concerned by the Godless items I see on the shelves of bookstores - titles of books and cover art that are geared toward high school and middle school students (and sadly, even kids younger than that!) These books are making their way into our Christian homes and into our children's hearts. What can we do as Christian parents to prevent the infection of worldly viewpoints infiltrating our homes?

I think the answer is to monitor what your child reads - and when you are able, to do that before they start reading the book. I ask the parents of my middle school students to take the lead on this responsibility. If asked whether or not a book is a good one for kids to read, I will give my opinion, just as I do on this blog, but I expect that a parent will then follow up with his or her own evaluation of a book.

A few years ago, a student turned in a book she was reading. The title was very teenagery, but not concerning. Never having heard of the book, I thumbed through it quickly. I wasn't looking for anything because I had no reason to mistrust her or her parents. That's why I was shocked to see some of the Godless language and references when I was paging through! Wouldn't you know it, Dad stopped by my room that very afternoon, and I showed him what I'd found. He was frustrated because he'd been the one with the daughter to okay the purchase of the book. He admitted he hadn't looked at the book carefully.

Now, I share this story not to condemn the parents in this example, but to illustrate two things: first, how easy it is for this garbage to get into our kids' hands, and secondly, how easy it is sometimes to discover the garbage before it gets to them. Here are some suggestions for how you can monitor what your child reads.

1. If you can, page through the book before it's purchased or checked out from the library.
2. If an unfamiliar book comes home, look through it and read a bit.
3. If you have initial concerns with the book's title or suggested subject, read the book yourself before your child does. Make sure you communicate to your child why you are reading it!
4. Talk to other parents to see what they know or have read.
5. Research a book's subject matter online. (I did this recently, but after I read the reviews, I still read the book myself so that I could come to my own conclusions.)
6. Be smart when it comes to a book series! Don't assume that if the first book was acceptable that the rest will be okay.

Finally, keep talking to your kids. They are young in their faith development and really need us to be proactive in their lives. But they also need to know the motivation behind the action. It's not always easy to "train up a child in the way he should go." The devil sets out many stumbling blocks and hides behind facades like "modern ideals" and "political correctness." I pray that as you monitor what your children read, and as you do all the other things necessary to grow them in the grace and knowledge of Jesus, that you would know you are doing a valuable work - one that will be a blessing to them and bring honor to our loving God.