Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23
“A different study found that children spent more time on a helping task after watching an episode of Lassie that featured helping than did children who watched a different Lassie episode or an episode of the Brady Bunch. Another study found that watching either Sesame Street or Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood significantly increased the prosocial behavior of preschoolers after one week of watching the program.
A study of older children—8 to 10 year olds—found that those who had been randomly assigned to watch shows with violent, aggressive content gave fewer tokens to charity than did those who had watched either a neutral or prosocial show; there was also a negative relationship between the number of hours of television the children typically watched per week and how much they donated to the charity, suggesting that television, regardless of content, may also have a dampening effect on generosity.”
Summer Allen in “The Science of Generosity” White Paper produced by the Greater Good Science Center.
It seems that TV, regardless of the content, can have a dampening effect on generosity. It makes sense. TV often promotes the values of the world, some of which are “prosocial” and others which are more “self-centered.”
So, the more TV our children, grandchildren, or great grandchildren watch, the more it will dampen their desire to serve as conduits of material and spiritual blessings. That said, how will you use this information?
I suggest today’s Scripture offers the answer. We must guard our hearts, and the hearts of our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, lest the influence of the world having a dampening effect on expressing their faith through generosity.