•3:43 PM
Wednesday, August 18, 2010 3:43 p.m.
Continued from the previous post...
I also think that the overuse of image-based entertainment and information delivery can rewire our brains in such a way that we become handicapped. We become less able to effectively assimilate information through media such as books and audio recordings, and more dependent upon visual and video modes to absorb information. This may be the reason that so many children have difficulty in learning through reading; rather, they find that they need drawings, photos, and videos in order to grasp information. More often with time, curriculum providers are targeting this growing group of young learners. I can’t help thinking that overexposure to stimulating images, such as modern movies and television, have seared our brains in such a way that we are hampered in our ability to concentrate and derive much satisfaction from the written word. Unfortunately, it has become my personal experience that I am increasingly challenged in my ability to learn from what I read. I am trying with all my heart to prevent this from occurring with my children.
It is difficult for me to exhaustively explain all of my thought about this in blog format, so I will mention some examples.
First off, Self-Reliant Man and I have been attending our adult Sunday School class at church, where one of our elders is giving a three week teaching series on the Book of Esther. This elder is blessed with the skill of being able to use spoken and written words to bring this extraordinary narrative alive to the modern listener. In truth, the story of Esther is an amazing example of God's providence, human sin, foibles, and failings, and extreme acts of courage. I felt that I was newly introduced to the significance and intensity of this biblical story through his teachings.
However, I also recognized that in doing so, the teacher had to overcome a roadblock, even a handicap, within my brain. As long as we’ve had children, even before, we have watched and enjoyed various Veggie Tales videos. Many of these videos are “Veggie” versions of biblical narratives, like the fall of Jericho, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the prophet Daniel, etc. Of course, we had often seen the video Esther, the Girl Who Became Queen, which is a Veggie Tales adaptation of the book of Esther. These videos, while being entertaining, also retell important Bible stories in a humorous way that tends to trivialize, and make “cute”, the highlights and messages of the actual events. Their adaptation of Esther, in particular, does this. As our Sunday School teacher was talking about Mordecai, I couldn’t shake the cutesy image in my head of Grandpa Grape sitting at the gate of the Persian king’s palace. Similarly, the movie Jonah and its portrayal of the sin of Ninevah (people slapping one another with fish) makes light of the sin that marked one of ancient history’s most heinous civilizations. Of course there is a reason for this; after all, these are kids’ videos. However, since they are animated images, they do make a deep imprint on our brains that tends to distort, and even overwhelm, that of our imaginations when the Bible story is read to us.
Continued from the previous post...
I also think that the overuse of image-based entertainment and information delivery can rewire our brains in such a way that we become handicapped. We become less able to effectively assimilate information through media such as books and audio recordings, and more dependent upon visual and video modes to absorb information. This may be the reason that so many children have difficulty in learning through reading; rather, they find that they need drawings, photos, and videos in order to grasp information. More often with time, curriculum providers are targeting this growing group of young learners. I can’t help thinking that overexposure to stimulating images, such as modern movies and television, have seared our brains in such a way that we are hampered in our ability to concentrate and derive much satisfaction from the written word. Unfortunately, it has become my personal experience that I am increasingly challenged in my ability to learn from what I read. I am trying with all my heart to prevent this from occurring with my children.
It is difficult for me to exhaustively explain all of my thought about this in blog format, so I will mention some examples.
First off, Self-Reliant Man and I have been attending our adult Sunday School class at church, where one of our elders is giving a three week teaching series on the Book of Esther. This elder is blessed with the skill of being able to use spoken and written words to bring this extraordinary narrative alive to the modern listener. In truth, the story of Esther is an amazing example of God's providence, human sin, foibles, and failings, and extreme acts of courage. I felt that I was newly introduced to the significance and intensity of this biblical story through his teachings.
However, I also recognized that in doing so, the teacher had to overcome a roadblock, even a handicap, within my brain. As long as we’ve had children, even before, we have watched and enjoyed various Veggie Tales videos. Many of these videos are “Veggie” versions of biblical narratives, like the fall of Jericho, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the prophet Daniel, etc. Of course, we had often seen the video Esther, the Girl Who Became Queen, which is a Veggie Tales adaptation of the book of Esther. These videos, while being entertaining, also retell important Bible stories in a humorous way that tends to trivialize, and make “cute”, the highlights and messages of the actual events. Their adaptation of Esther, in particular, does this. As our Sunday School teacher was talking about Mordecai, I couldn’t shake the cutesy image in my head of Grandpa Grape sitting at the gate of the Persian king’s palace. Similarly, the movie Jonah and its portrayal of the sin of Ninevah (people slapping one another with fish) makes light of the sin that marked one of ancient history’s most heinous civilizations. Of course there is a reason for this; after all, these are kids’ videos. However, since they are animated images, they do make a deep imprint on our brains that tends to distort, and even overwhelm, that of our imaginations when the Bible story is read to us.
TO BE CONTINUED....
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