Media Can be Used for Good
Friend April 2017 The kids on my bus are really inappropriate, and I used to dread getting on the bus. My older sister let me borrow her MP3 player full of Church songs, and now I don’t dread going on the bus, as long as I have the MP3 player and some Church magazines. I am really glad the Church can help me stay on the right path. Savannah N., age 11, Arizona, USA
Media Affects Us
Friend August 2016 “Matt and Mandy” Mandy learns it is hard to get rid of things in the brain that we see and hear.
Courage to Choose the Right Media
Friend August 2020 “Choosing the Channel” Camille’s best friend told her about a funny TV show, but it had some bad words in it so she turned it off. Camille was afraid to tell her friend that she didn’t watch it. They were best friends that did everything together and liked the same things. She was afraid they wouldn’t be friends anymore. But her friend was supportive of her choice and said they could find a show they both liked.
Friend February 2024 “True Friends?” Henry’s friends did things that made him uncomfortable like watching bad videos. He was afraid to say anything because he didn’t want to be alone and friendless. His mom told him that true friends help you do what’s right. The next time they watched a bad video he said he didn’t want to watch it. His friends made fun of him and said mean things about him. “Is this what true friends would do?,” Henry thought. He left and felt peaceful. He realized he wasn’t alone. The Holy Ghost was with him.
Video Games
Friend October 2022 “Video Game Stoplight” Nathan is missing out on family time and he isn’t getting his work done because he gets caught up in video games. His mom and dad help him make a plan to balance things out better.
Friend September 2020 “Video Game Explosion” After losing to his brother in a video game car race, Jared felt frustrated and kicked the wall and made a hole in it. Then he was scared about what his mom and Dad would say. He prayed for help, and he and his parents tried to figure out what made him feel so frustrated and angry. They all decided maybe he should cut back on video games for awhile. He was glad to have a good feeling again.
Friend June 2018 “Bedtime For Felix” Anton can’t wait to get back to his game, but he has to put his baby brother to bed first. As he snuggled with his brother he realized he felt the happiest he had been all day.
Friend April 2017 “Game Changer” Caleb wants to play his online game with his friends, but some players are using bad words. Caleb feels like it is hard to have to make different choices than his friends, but the Holy Ghost comforts him and helps him see that the game was getting addicting.
Friend January 2017 “The Next Level” Max takes a week off from playing games and he learns new things, spends time with his family, serves, and feels the Spirit.
Friend August 2016 “The Hidden Video Game” Ava’s big brother doesn’t feel good about a video game they are playing so he wants to get rid of it.
Friend February 2019 “Monster Quest” A boy learns it’s more fun to go on a pretend monster quest than it is to play the video game Monster Quest.
Friend June 2015 Building a fort instead of playing video games.
Television
Friend September 2015 “Flipping Channels” Girl feels guilty watching a movie with bad ratings and tries to hide that she is watching it.
Friend November 2018 “Sister Date” Rachel and Brianna have a bad fight over which tv show to watch. The older sister, Brianna, decides they need to go on sister date and have some fun time together, and this quality time helps them become best friends again.
Books
Friend October 2019 “Should I Keep Reading?” While Brooklyn is reading a book about a girl who started a blog, the girl took the Lord’s name in vain. Brooklyn didn’t feel very good when she read that, but she kept reading hoping it was just a one time thing, but it wasn’t. Brooklyn stopped reading and took the book back to the library. She felt glad that she had followed the “My Gospel Standards” about only reading and watching things that are pleasing to Heavenly Father.
Friend June 2016 “Goodbye to Scary Stories” Reading scary books makes a girl feel anxious and scared so she gets rid of them.
Friend June 2023 “Margo and Paolo” When Paulo began to read his library book, he didn’t feel good because it had some bad parts in it, so he stopped reading it. The Holy Ghost was warning him of spiritual danger.
Phones
Friend November 2020 “Conference Notes” Sister Craig felt the Holy Ghost tell her to stop looking at her phone in line at the store. One day she noticed an elderly man in front of her in line. He said it was his birthday, but nobody else knew. She was glad she took the time to notice others. This teaches me:
Friend March 2019 “The No-Phone Zone” At a family reunion, Tyler’s grandmother has everyone put their phones in a basket before dinner. At dinner (and after dinner), Tyler listened to all the family stories. He learned more about his dad as a child. He didn’t think about his phone at all. He told his grandma it was the best dinner ever.
Scrolling
Friend March 2024 “Janeelyn Stops Scrolling” Janeelyn was watching videos on the phone. Most were good, but some had bad things in them. Janeelyn started to feel like she should stop watching them, but she really wanted to see the next video. And the next. And the next. She had a hard time stopping even though the Holy Ghost had prompted her. She said a prayer asking for help. Her mom helped her, and they decided she would only watch videos when she was watching with her mom and dad.
Pornography
Friend June 2023 “The Bad Website” While on the internet, Kevin clicked on a website link and found it had pictures of people without clothes. He was curious, so he looked and felt sick. The bad feeling didn’t go away. He realized the Holy Ghost had helped him know he shouldn’t look at the pictures and that he should talk to his mom about it. He and his mom came up with a computer safety plan together.
Friend October 2022 “Speaking Up at Soccer Camp” A boy walks away when other kids are showing pornography on a phone.
Internet Safety
Friend October 2020 “Chat-Box Mess” Myra accepted someone she didn’t know as a friend on an online game she was playing. She quickly regretted her decision when he began asking personal questions. Then the person began sending her bad messages. She told her dad and he was able to block the him and report him. He reminded her that it was safer to only play with kids she knows.
Emails and Texts
Friend April 2019 “The Right Reply” Emily received a mean email from a friend. She wanted to send a not-so-nice reply, but her mom suggested she wait and little bit. While she waited, she saw a picture of Jesus. She remembered that people had been mean to him, but he was never mean back. She decided to follow Jesus and not send the mean reply.
Friend April 2023 “The Big, Bad, Rotten Text” Zach got mad at his older sister and sent a mean text to her on his mom’s phone, but he sent it to the wrong Rachel. The person who received it helped him realize that it was important to use his words to say kind things, not to hurt others.
Computers
Online Bullying
Friend September 2018 “Cyberbash” Kaela’s friend posted a picture online of herself being funny and goofy with her checks full of cereal like a chipmunk. Kaela was shocked when she saw mean comments about the picture. She lets her friend know that those comments were wrong, and she tells her mom about the bullying.
Pornography
Friend October 2015 “Standing Strong” Boy leaves when other boys are viewing pornography but is later teased.
Friend June 2018 “Filter Fail” While researching on the internet for a school paper a picture of a naked person pops up. Kylie is shocked and feels guilty because she can’t get the image out of her mind. She talks to her parents and they help her see that it wasn’t her fault, and they tell her that filling her mind with goood things will help push the bad things out.
Friend August 2017 “The Bad Picture” A boy shows Taran a bad picture from a magazine, but Taran lets him know that he doesn’t look at things like that. He also tells his mom about what happened. His family celebrates and talk about his good decision.
Limiting Time
Friend March 2021 “The Adventures Just Outside” After playing a math game on her tablet for a long time, Rylee’s mom explained that doing math is good for her brain, but too much screen time isn’t good for her brain, or for the rest of her body. They decide to go for a walk to the park, and Rylee finds lots of things to do that helps her brain grow stronger.
Listen to the Spirit
Friend September 2017 “For Older Kids” By McKay H., age 9, Utah, USA “One night as I was watching TV, a show came on that I had never seen before. I got a dark feeling inside. Then a very still, small voice told me to turn off the TV. After that I went to play a Primary song on the piano.”
Individual Stories
Friend August 2015 “Show & Tell” Two children make good choices about media.
Friend August 2016 “Show & Tell” A boy shuts off a game when he hears inappropriate language.
Friend July 2018 “Show and Tell” I was playing with a friend who showed me a video. At first it was funny, but then a character said a bad word. When I hear bad words, it feels bad in my body, so I asked him if we could do something else. He said OK. I felt happy inside! Javaan F., age 9, North Carolina, USA