Do you always agree with ratings and movie content? The folks at the National Institute on Media and the Family in Minneapolis, Minnesota wanted to know how well media rating systems correlated with their content.

A parent-panel of 55 adults rated a whopping 276 films, 253 TV programs, and 166 computer games. Examples from 1997-1999 were chosen for evaluation because they were marketed to children, were popular, or were likely to be seen by kids.

As always, the parent's results are interesting:

Obviously, there is a difference between what the industry thinks is appropriate for our kids and what we know is inappropriate for our children.

The difference measured in this study is the difference between a parent and an industry. Parents are interested in a child's long-term development and an industry is interested in the short-term bottom line. Oh yes, media entertainers talk a good talk, but they do not have a vested interest in your children reaching their God-given potential.

Our children are not our own, they are God's property (i.e. heritage). He gifts them to us and we are to care for them in a way that leads them to Him --not to the movies.

Somewhere we lost the meaning of entertainment. Webster's define entertainment as a light, humorous diversion or deception. Entertainment also is a gift from God -- a temporary, funny diversion from everyday life that refreshes us and allows us to carry on His work. Violence unfortunately has become the modern day definition of entertainment.

With this info in mind, as parents we must remember our first charge is our relationship to God and then to the work He has set before us (i.e. our families).

So if you have a choice between your children and entertainment, choose God by choosing your children. Find other ways to entertain like with books, family nights, cooking, talking, walking, kicking balls, or roasting marshmallows to name a few activities. You can not trust the media rating system but you can trust your God.