Indoor Garden Musings: Captivated DVD from Media Talk 101 (Review for the Schoolhouse Review Crew)

We received the Captivated DVD from Media Talk 101 for review purposes!

Vendor Information Link: Media Talk 101

Age Appeal: Adults, approved for all ages

Format: DVD, over 1 hour

Price: currently $16.95, free shipping

We all know that there is a lot of media available to us today, television, video games, texting, social networks, and much more. We all need to be able to have discernment it what we do.

This documentary features Dr. Ted Baehr, Dr. Jeff Myers, Dr. David Murray along with others, professionals and everyday people. The media experts and church leaders discuss the impact of technology today and how it relates to God and His word. The everyday people discuss what they have done about media in their lives and how it impacted them in the past.

Our Experience:

Our family do not have smart phones, but we do have computers and televisions. It was shortly before the Captivated DVD was being offered that I decided that our family was becoming too involved with television and computer games. I decided that I would limit non-school computer time to 1 hour a week and television to one show during one meal a day. During the three weeks that we decreased our time on the computers and television, I noticed a change in the children. They were playing together more and not complaining about things. Their attitudes also improved.

Dad watched the video with me. We talked about it. We watched it together as a family later on.

Mama’s Thoughts:

I really liked the extended interviews in the bonus section. I got a real feel for their opinions and how to begin ridding our lives of excess media.
The children thought it was boring even though it applied to them. It would have helped to have more of the younger generation speaking, so B and C could learn how they have dealt with media in their lives.
I learned a lot of interesting facts about how much people are watching television and texting.
It was nice that there were people from different walks of life giving their opinions about media and what had captivated them. The lady who played Farmville was very interesting, because her addiction to the game is exactly the reason why I have never tried it. I knew that if I tried it, then I would always want to be playing.
I am glad there was a balance between media being both good and evil. It can always be used for good as long as a person does not use it too much.

B’s Thoughts (boy, age 10, officially in fourth grade):

Even though Captivated did not really captivate me, I did learn a lot. I think this would be better for children older than me, as I found it boring.

It was good for learning good discernment skills for discerning media. I liked the extended interview with Dr. David Murray. You can learn a lot from the extended interviews.

Overall I would recommend this documentary to people older than me.

C’s Thoughts (girl, age 8, officially in second grade):

It would not be interesting for kids my age and younger, because it was grownups talking to grownups.
My family does a good job of not being involved with a lot of media. My mama only lets us have one hour of computer time each week. I usually do not use up that hour.

Dad’s Thoughts:

Captivated is a must see DVD program for parents and couples wanting to be parents. It shows us how today's media is being over consumed by our children and by us as adults. Not only do we get it directly from TV but also through movies and through our phones, tablets, and other portable devices that connect us to entertainment and disconnect us from God and reality. Captivated is an eye-opening experience to the deception brought by media that we have fallen for but that we simply explain it away as entertainment, someone exercising their Freedom of Speech, or as a nature documentary or special.

We need to be able to distinguish between that which will add value to our lives vs. that which will rob of us of our precious time with idle activity. This is a program that needs to be shown in as many venues as possible to get the word out about how destructive the over consumption of media is to our minds and our bodies.

I definitely recommend "Captivated" to be on your must see list.

Mama recommends the Captivated DVD!

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