SUPERIOR -- Why is media consumption an important issue for parents?

"If you're watching it day in and day out," Sue Vanovermeiren said, "you become what you watch."

Vanovermeiren, a parent at Cathedral School here, was one of those attending the first of five media literacy programs presented by diocesan school superintendent Phyllis Schlagel. Programs were scheduled in each of the diocese's five deaneries, with the last one scheduled from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 31, at St. Mary School, New Richmond.

If children indeed become what they watch, some of the entries on a fact sheet Schlagel distributed can raise concerns:

* The average teen-ager watches 23 hours of television per week.

* The TV is on more than seven hours per day in the average household.

* The average person will see 18,000 murders on TV by the time they are 17.

* 94 percent of soap opera sexual encounters are between characters who aren't married to each other.

* Each year the average child spends the equivalent of 22 full days in class watching violent cartoons and commercials for combat-type toys.

* R-rated action movies contain an average of 161 acts of violence per hour.

* The average child will see 500,000 commercials and 200,000 acts of violence on TV before graduating from high school.

* American children spend more time watching TV than any other activity of their working lives.

Schlagel asked those attending the program to mention the things that concern them about television programs and movies, virtually the media that were discussed. Undersirable messages varied from sexism to violence to anti-intellectualism to sexual innuendo.

Thanks to situation comedy dialog, "sassiness and disrespectfulness becomes acceptable," complained Cathedral parent Desiree Haytens. "It's part of their day."

Fr. Daniel Dahlberg, Cathedral pastor, said he has heard more parents complain about professional wrestling than any other TV programming. "I can't think of anything more disgusting," Dahlberg said, "the violence, the scantily-clad women and the language." (Wrestling shows have also been criticized for blatant racial and ethnic stereotyping.) Yet, the pastor added sadly, "a lot of parents let their children watch."

Rosemary Birch, a middle school religion and social studies teacher at Cathedral, said some children are desensitized by constant exposure to violent movies and television programs. She remembered one girl who "was only 13, and she thought violence was entertainment. She said, 'I like violent movies, the others are boring."

Birch recalled turning on a classroom television set after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. "I had a kid in class say, 'Oh, for cool.' It was entertainment. The more they watch, the more they think it's not hurting anybody."

With children like those Birch mentioned, "you become immune," Schlagel said. "The unreal becomes real."

Cathedral parent Pat Flaherty advised that "if your child should see some violent act (in a movie or TV show), let them know it's not real." Christina Kintop, a member of St. William Parish, added that in viewing news of events like the Sept. 11 attacks or the Oklahoma City bombing, "let them know is real, and people are dying."

Some parents mentioned that not all television programming was a negative influence, citing public television and such cable channels as Discovery and Arts and Entertainment. "Channel 8 is very good," Cathedral parent Laurie Cleaver said of the local PBS station.

Besides selective viewing, Schlagel and several parents advocated watching TV as a family, instead of having everyone watch separate sets, with little parental input.

"The kids are going to hear about sex, about violence," Kintop said, "but wouldn't you rather have it open to discussion? I let my daughters know they can discuss what's right and what's wrong," when something they watch raises questions.

"Know what you're taking in," Schlagel said of media consumption. "It's no different from eating."

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© Superior Catholic Herald, 2002