Radio Waves

I love listening to the radio while I'm driving in the car. My usual fare is talk radio. But sometimes I like listening to music. And when the kids are in the car, they find the talk radio shows quite boring so I end up switching to the music, our favorite genre being rock/alternative or for one person in particular, the quite grating, Radio Dis*ney.



I'm very selective about what is playing while the kids are around. For sure, no swear words (those usually get bleeped out anyway, but sometimes they sneak in), and no songs about sleeping around, drug use, or dark/suicidal thoughts. I think that eliminates most songs that are out nowadays, right?



What I have found is that while listening to the radio, I now need to be aware of what kind of talk goes on in between songs. For a long time, I haven't listened to morning talk on the music stations because they have a lot of silly talk. Talking about parties they went to, how drunk they got, the latest on Britney Spears, etc. etc. Talk that doesn't make me think, other than thinking, how shallow these peoples' lives are (IMHO). Now I hear DJ's frequently tossing around off-color words. Words like (you can guess what I'm alluding to) donkey, female dog, and of course the favorite, taking the Lord's name in vain.



I think our society has gotten so used to this kind of talk that we don't think twice about it. I don't remember radio being that way, but maybe I'm just now noticing it. I thought the FCC regulated that kind of stuff.



I know that my kids will hear all this kind of talk eventually, but I'm trying to shelter their ears as much as I can so it doesn't become part of their everyday language, it doesn't become, "But, everyone talks like that!" I am reminded of the children's song, Oh, Be Careful Little Ears. I think that's what it's called.

Oh, be careful little ears, what you hear

Oh, be careful little ears, what you hear

For the Father up above,

is looking down in love,

So be careful little ears

what you hear.

One good thing about driving my big monster SUV rental (yes, I'm still driving it, no incidents, yea!) is that it has Sirius satellite radio. So I've been able to listen to EWTN radio, much to my children's chagrin. I love being able to listen to Catholic talk while I drive! We don't have Catholic radio here so this has been a blessing!



Here are some things that I've done to make our listening more safe:



Bring CD's from our own collection. We download songs that we really like and burn them onto the CD so that we can hear current songs (lyrics have been checked out) without having to listen to any DJ talk.



Listen to Christian music stations.



Listen to classical music, although the kids don't care for this one too much. I put a classical station on when there is too much bickering going on. That causes them to settle down.



Then of course, the most obvious choice when I've had it with noise, TURN THE RADIO OFF! PERIOD! That one can be nice, too. It clears your head.

No foul language should come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for needed edification, that it may impart grace to those who hear.

Ephesians 4:29