A friend of mine (who actually has a daughter) posted a link to this article on PBS' website titled, "Raising a Powerful Girl." Most of the topics they address I think can and should be applied to raising boys as well. One topic in particular stood out to me and has had me thinking for a few days: "Limit your daughter's [and we'll add 'son's'] exposure to the media and popular culture when she is young."
Now I don't advocate parenting to the point of over-protectiveness, but I completely agree that there is every reason in the world for us to shield our young children from the media. Children (boys AND girls) need to see healthy, real-life examples of relationships, bodies, and life. If it isn't already obvious, they will not get that in the media.
I take the approach that I should be living what I want to teach my children, so I think the best way to shield my own children from the media is to not absorb it myself. I rarely watch TV and when I do, it's after the kids are in bed. I don't read magazines, particularly gossip magazines, where unhealthy advertisements abound, so I have nothing to hide around the house.
And when the time comes to acknowledge the fact that I can't protect them from everything, I hope that I am the kind of parent that can have an open, honest, and humorous dialogue with my kids about what they're seeing.
How will you protect your children (or nieces or nephews or grandchildren or siblings...) from the media?
