Transmission of Values

In the late 18th century, the world encountered its first Industrial Revolution, but it was the second one in the mid-19th century that really had a profound effect on American life. I suspect it has had effects we haven't noticed and surely didn't anticipate. (I mean, seriously, when was the last time you gave any thought to the effects of the Industrial Revolution?)

In a society that is largely agrarian, you'll find a culture (remember, "culture" is the shared set of values of a group of people that serve to define "normal") that is somewhat spread out and largely family-oriented. The children, while maybe going to school, will also be involved at a young age in working with Mom and Dad -- sharing in their labor. "Career choices" are typically done by parental choice (with or without input from the offspring) and accomplished by apprenticeships rather than formal education. In this world, then, values are passed on in a narrow way from parent to child. There are outside influences, of course, but they aren't as pressing due to the "spread-outedness" of the society.

Times changed. Families gathered where jobs appeared. Craftsmanship was replaced by automation. Apprenticeships were replaced by public education. Fathers took on careers at factories and corporations ... away from home. The task of passing on values just became more difficult. Dad wasn't at home as much now, and it was largely left to Mom. Besides that, competing values were being offered due to closer neighborhoods. Of course, that wasn't too much of a problem since values at that time were largely shared. Mrs. Casperman was allowed to smack Mrs. Lang's son when she caught him stealing from the candy shop because they shared the same values. In this way, then, values were reinforced even if they came from a wider variety of sources.

Times changed. In the 1920's we began what was known as "The Golden Age of Radio". Families began piping in new values. Oh, they were largely innocuous. Try this soap rather than that one. Buy your gas from this station instead of that one. Harmless stuff. But there were other values stuck in there. You had radio serials like The Shadow and The Great Gildersleeve, crime shows and comedies. These were different values than the ones you'd normally find in the living room. They were generally filtered through family gatherings around the radio, but they were new and different. And there were movies. This provided visual stimulus as well along with another set of values. Gone with the Wind, Citizen Kane, and Casablanca provided an increasingly different set of values for families to manage.

Times changed. Radio is replaced by a new technology -- television. Very few (if any) at the beginning of the phenomenon could foresee its reach. There was the issue of the medium itself, flashing images on flickering screens. There was the growing number of options available. There was matter of content. And now children could be fed values without their parents being present. Dad is off working long hours or multiple jobs and Mom is off seeking her career fulfillment, so kids are being fed values completely apart from parents. Are they the same values of their parents? Not necessarily. Not even likely. Eventually art moves from mirroring life to defining it. Today we've added on-demand movies, the Internet, and full-time music. Children are inundated with values, very little of which are their parents', who aren't home enough to counter them anyway. The plurality of the country and the ubiquity of technology coupled with the world where children and parents spend less and less time together has radically changed the transmission of values.

Have you ever noticed that people today live their lives largely as they watch television? Oh, not just television. Whatever the variety of entertainment. There used to be a concept known as "brand loyalty", and it still exists to some extent today, but not so much. People tend, instead, to look for the "next big thing". This notion plays itself out across all of life. Loyalty to family, to an employer, to a spouse, to community, to country, and so much more ... these are all on the way out. Instead we're "channel surfing", so to speak. What grabs our attention this season? What is entertaining today? Do not commit by any means because nothing and no one will commit to me! I might find something (or someone) entertaining for a little while ... but only for a little while. Then it's "channel surfing" again. Our media determines our fears for us. They tell us that the economy is in trouble and consumer confidence plunges. They tell us that a killer flu is invading and we fill hospitals with our sniffles. Our media -- music, video games, movies, television -- define life for us. And parents who want to pass on a set of values to their kids are washed away in the glut of competing ideas.

What to do? Homeschool? Well, that would certainly have an effect, but everyone except those crazy right wing types knows that it's only those crazy right wing types that do it. Besides, if one parent is home schooling the kids, that's one less income. And how can we afford our two cars, satellite TV in all twelve rooms, fancy clothes, fancy restaurants, and the rest of the "good life" that we enjoy? After all, isn't that kind of controlling of kids some sort of child abuse? Someone might suggest that losing those media inputs wouldn't be a bad idea. But then what would Dad watch when the big games are on? And so it goes.

There are answers. They aren't easy. The question becomes "How badly do you want it?" How badly do you want to fulfill your God-given obligations as parents? How much do you care that your children learn what God intends them to learn and avoid the ideas that they must avoid? Conversely, how much of the lies of today's society about homeschooling or child-rearing practices or what is needful are you going to swallow ... to your kids' detriment? There are answers. They're not easy.