ClearPlay

I am a protective mom with my kids when it comes to movies. I am often the "bad guy," because I don't let my teens (almost 15 & 17) watch some PG-13 movies. My kids are expected to call me from their friends' houses to ask if they can watch certain movies. I explain that I am an adult, which means I can watch any kind of movies I want to, but that doesn't mean I CHOOSE to. I believe that God wants us to be careful what we invite into our minds and hearts, because it leaves an impact. Watching whatever we want to can also desensitize us to sin. All in all, it's not the subject matter I fear, it's the images and messages my kids will take in, by seeing these types of mature movies.

When I was 13, I went to a big slumber party at a friend's house. The girl's parents rented us several movies, one of which was "Risky Business." This movie was rated R, and had graphic sex scenes. I remember feeling sort of trapped watching it, unprepared to know what to do. Plus, the parents in the next room obviously approved of the movie, since they rented it. Anyway, as a sensitive person, that movie left me feeling bad for a long time.

Well, I think I may have found a cool answer to watching today's movies as a Christian. It's called ClearPlay. It's a DVD player with a filter, that filters out bad language, nudity, etc. You receive regular updates via the computer. Check it out at http://www.clearplay.com/.

I have read about parents who let their teens watch movies, in order to open up a discussion about current topics for educational purposes. I know my conscience would not allow me to let me kids watch movies with graphic sex scenes and violence, but I think I could live with them watching movies if it was filtered by something like ClearPlay. I would feel better knowing that the graphic images and language would not be imprinted on their brains, and we could talk about the subject matter.