Every time you ask a question about your TV, even if it doesn't answer back, you're doing the right thing. You are becoming more media literate. It's perfectly fine to ask questions about the pervasive influence of commercials, the content of programming, and the seductive spell cast by the glow of the flat screen (or tube, if you've got an old-enough set that still works). The task becomes a critical one for parents as they grind their teeth in anxiety over making TV their children's electronic baby sitter. Or making the computer the sitter. Or the video game. A new online guide, produced jointly by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and the Alliance for Childhood in collaboration with an organization called TRUCE -- short for Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children's Entertainment -- helps clarify the issues for parents, and grandparents, too. Called "Facing the Screen Dilemma: Young Children, Technology and Early Education," the 27-page guide asks and addresses the questions about "screen time" that parents find difficult to frame, let alone resolve. "Based on mounting evidence, we are worried about the harm done to children's health, development and learning in today's media-saturated, commercially driven culture," says the foreword to "Facing the Screen Dilemma." The full guide can be found online.
Finding St Anthony Among the Lost Items
Saint Anthony of Padua, though often associated with finding lost articles, was primarily known in his lifetime as a powerful and eloquent preacher. Originally a Canon Regular of St. Augustine, he was inspired to join the newly formed Franciscan order after witnessing the martyrdom of the first Franciscan missionaries in Morocco. His conversion to the mendicant life under St. Francis of Assisi transformed him, deepening his commitment to poverty, humility, and evangelical preaching. Gifted with profound theological knowledge and a captivating speaking style, he traveled across Italy and France, drawing immense crowds with his clear and passionate sermons, converting many and combating heresy with his unwavering faith and intellectual rigor. Beyond his public ministry, St. Anthony was a mystic who enjoyed profound spiritual experiences, most notably a vision of the Infant Jesus. This intimate connection with the Christ Child is a hallmark of his iconography, often depicting him c...
