Christians Can’t Protect Kids from Entertainment (but They Can do Something Better) 

The entertainment industry has undergone seismic changes in recent years. A few decades ago, people would drive to the local Blockbuster and then choose from a handful of new releases. Now we have access to unlimited content on our smartphones.   

Christian parents often ask, “How can I protect my kids from ungodly content?” As a parent, I sympathize with this sentiment. But as someone who analyzes entertainment and culture for a living, I wonder if we’re asking the wrong questions.   

What if we can’t protect our kids? At least, not entirely (and certainly not indefinitely). Boycotting the latest problematic film may delay exposure to the unbiblical ideologies it contains. But what happens when kids have access to an endless ocean of concerning content through their phone (or the phones of their friends or classmates)? The entertainment industry is changing. As parents, we may need to change with it.   

Streaming is a Game Changer  

Recent data released by Nielsen revealed that 41.4% of TV usage comes from streaming (in contrast to 20.3% from broadcast and 26.7% from cable). The advent of “streaming” has been a game changer, dramatically rewiring our relationship with entertainment. It has changed:  

• Where we watch — (Smartphones and tablets have made entertainment an omnipresence in our daily lives).   

• How we watch — (Growing up, “binging” was when my friends and I popped in a second VHS tape during a sleepover).  

• What we watch — (There are more entertainment options today than at any other point in history. Released from the shackles of traditional network television, streaming platforms are free to create content that is much more profane and sexually explicit).  

One surprising revelation in the recent Nielsen data is that YouTube—not Disney+, Netflix, Prime Video, or any of the other expected players—is the most-watched streaming platform on TV. The data doesn’t even consider the significant number of hours YouTube is streamed on laptops or smartphones. Though we often forget to include YouTube in conversations about streaming platforms, it may be the most influential of them all.   

Should Christians care which of the ever-increasing number of streaming platforms is attracting the most viewers? Yes, we absolutely should. YouTube’s surprising achievement is a clear reflection of a changing entertainment paradigm that will have significant consequences in the years ahead.   

A New Game with New Rules   

Today’s youth face a more complex media landscape than any previous generation has encountered. Yet many parents are operating under the old rules, failing to recognize that the game has changed.   

When only eight to ten noteworthy films marketed to young viewers hit theaters each year, parents could reasonably expect to shield their children from problematic content. Streaming, with its broad offerings, poses a tougher challenge. But parents can still choose “safer” options—like Angel Studios or Bentkey—and stay informed about the most buzzworthy shows.   

YouTube is a different beast entirely. Rather, what YouTube represents—a free platform with endless videos and content creators—is a more formidable challenge. YouTube is not simply a place to find tutorials on the best way to cook filet mignon or remove a stubborn carpet stain. It’s an entertainment ecosystem that is going toe-to-toe with the biggest players in the entertainment industry—and winning.  

I’m an optimist when it comes to traditional entertainment. I believe my kids will one day take their own kids to see exciting new flicks at the movie theater. Nevertheless, the rise of YouTube provides a glimpse into a future in which traditional entertainment is less dominant and open-ended, content-creator-led video platforms rule the day. More than 400 hours of video content is uploaded to YouTube every minute. As parents, how can we protect our children from that entertainment paradigm?       

Equipping > Protecting   

It is easier to enforce a blanket boycott against Disney then it is to engage with the near infinite number of content creators on platforms like YouTube, many of whom are endorsing worldviews far more disagreeable than anything found in Disney’s latest fairytale. Christians are often quick to become outraged by a fleeting LGBTQ element in an animated film and yet remain blissfully ignorant of the influential content creators who explicitly affirm such sexual ideologies.     

To put it bluntly: the content young people consume on their smartphones will play a much larger role in shaping their worldview than any Hollywood film ever could. A two-hour film simply can’t compete with hours and hours of YouTube video consumption. Our children are being mentored by young, charismatic content creators, and we may not even know their names.    

For Christian parents, trying to hold back the tumultuous wave of “godless” entertainment is an increasingly fruitless endeavor. Perhaps we would do better to teach children to be competent swimmers who can keep their heads above water no matter how violently the water churns around them.   

To be clear, I am not suggesting that Christians parents should foolishly toss their kids into the deep end of the pool and hope for the best. Jesus called his followers to be “wise as serpents” (discerning and thoughtful), but he also exhorted them to be “innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16). Equipping a child for the future and protecting a child in the present are not mutually exclusive objectives. Parents should strive to stay informed about today’s influential media, and they should not go out of their way to expose their child to immoral material. But a sheltered child is not necessarily a child equipped to one day navigate the rapidly changing entertainment and media landscape of our new world. Protecting the innocence of our children is an essential task, but it is only the beginning of our responsibility as parents.  

The Bible urges Christians to “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). As Christian parents, we should absolutely shield our children from as much adult filth as possible while they are young. But our ultimate goal shouldn’t be merely to protect children but to equip future adults. We are entering a new frontier, and we must prepare our children to navigate it.