Modern Media: Facing the Dangers, Opportunities, and Responsibilities

This course is a member of the new Catholic Courses Electives category. Electives are exciting and timely topics covered by today's most popular speakers. Electives contain four video or audio lectures that are produced to the same highest-quality standards you know and expect from Catholic Courses.
Did you know that children consume up to 53 hours of media a week? Adults consume anywhere from 40 to 44 hours a week - as much or more than a full-time job But so many of us feel overwhelmed by the onslaught of information.
We might ask any of these questions:
What can we do to manage the flow of information better? How do we protect ourselves and our families, and still enjoy healthy media usage? What can we do to stand up against media that does more harm than good?
After all, most of us know that what we see, read, and hear directly affects how we behave. And we know that the violence, sexual content, and bias of the media are a constant threat to a good Christian life. Yet we can't "throw the baby out with the bathwater." Learning to control the media in our lives, and even use it for good, is absolutely vital to protecting our children and our own integrity.
In this elective, popular speaker and author Teresa Tomeo highlights the powerful influence of media messages in all our lives. Many Catholics are not aware of the extensive and instructive teaching the Church has to offer about modern technology and media, especially to families with young children. Teresa gives you proactive and timely tools, including a step-by-step plan to begin managing that media influence wisely.
Most modern popes have had plenty to say about media usage, media influence, and media and the family. Find out what the Church teaches through the works of:
Pope Paul VI Blessed John Paul II Pope Benedict XVI
Learn about easy-to-read Church documents on the subject including Vatican II's "Inter Mirifica," Bl. John Paul II's "Rapid Development," and numerous World Communications Day statements from all these popes.
The Church calls on us to manage the media wisely and to engage the culture through the mass media as an effective means of evangelization. We can all be part of the "Great Communication Commission" as part of the New Evangelization and use the media to spread the Gospel throughout the world.