We’ve started this year (in January) a parenting program on the influence of media, as you already know. Our plan then was to focus on a group of parents in Cluj and during the process, we hoped we’ll be perfecting it and later promoting it in the country. Well, things happened very much like in the humorous story I began with. It looked like “the light was attracting them.”
Several invitations followed through and the largest event took place in August at a bible study conference organized by Fundația Istoria Binecuvântării (the largest bible study event in Romania). They have heard about Media Safe Homes event so they have invited us to have 4 sessions, one each evening of the conference. About 300 people were there.
It was an eye opening experience for the participants. Many of them decided to take even some radical decisions regarding their “digital life” and the exposure of their family to it. It seems that media is a topic that worries many people in the churches and not only, especially parents. Our kids today, live in a digital world where even the meaning of simple words like “Friend”, “Connect”, “Share”, “Follow” are changing. They live in a world that not many adults and parents are able to understand. This apparently innocent virtual world has real and possibly negative consequences in real life. Well, it seems that parents started to understand this.
Most of them shared with us their concerns and determination to be alert and keep an eye on this matter and not leaving it influence the lives of their kids. This is the type of reaction we usually see after our Media Safe meetings. Our prayer is to be able to help the parents to take control of their own digital life and of their children.
