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4.3.2.2.3 Towards the Right Use of Media

Today people live in a “culture of technology”. 102 Mass media
influences culture. “The television has become a gatekeeper for our
‘ultimate’ cultural concerns as the Church was in the middle Age”. 103

One of the important roles of parents is educating their children in
the use of media. More than ever before, the media has heavily influenced
the lives of children. For this reason, Pope Benedict XVI called upon
parents to educate their children on its use. He noted: “The role of parents is
of primary importance. They have a right and duty to ensure the prudent use
of the media by training the conscience of their children to express sound
and objective judgments which will then guide them in choosing or rejecting
programmes available”. 104

The parents’ role now includes being alert and attentive in order to
educate their children in the appropriate use of modern technology,
particularly in the use of information technology. Educator Patricia B.
Licuanan remarks that “media’s impact on all contemporary life is another
characteristic of today’s world…. (A) major revolution has taken place in
television and video and the internet…. (They) have become powerful
instruments of a growing culture”. 105

102
Some scholars use this term to speak of technological growth, which has gained such
power over human life. It seems that human persons have become dependent on
technology. The consequence of unfriendly technological growth and human dependency
on it could be seen as supporting what John Paul II called the culture of death. Martin
Buber writes; “The first was the realm of technique. Machines, which were invented in
order to serve man in their work, impressed him into their service. They were no longer,
like tools, an extension of man’s arm, but man became their extension, an adjunct on their
periphery, doing their bidding.” BUBER, MARTIN, Between Man and Man, Introduction
and translated by, SMITH, RONALD GREGOR, Fontana Library, London, 1969, p. 193.
103 JAYAPALAN, RAPHAEL, Family Catechesis and the Electronic Media – A Pastoral-
Empirical-Critical Study of the Influence of the Electronic Media Especially Television on
the Religiosity of the Catholic Parents in Tamil Nadu - India, Università Pontificia
Salesiana, Rome, 2005, p. 2.
104 BENEDICT XVI, Message for the 41st World Communication Day, Children and the
Media: A Challenge for Education, Vatican, 20 May, 2007. Accessed 25 January, 2014.
<http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/communications/documents/hf
_ben-xvi_mes_20070124_41st-world-communications-day_en.html>
105 LICUANAN, PATRICIA B., “Vocation of Christian Educators: Christian Responsibility
in Academia”, in Jeevadhara, Vol 33/193, Kottayam, 2003, p. 14.

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