The television has become a part of our family like a much-loved dog or cat. Often when we are tired from a long day, all five of us - mom, dad and three kids - will pop in a video and eat pizza in front of an old movie or Star Trek re-run. On Sunday afternoons in the fall, after church and a big lunch, we all sack out in front of whatever football game might be on. Occasionally in the mornings, we will turn on one of the morning news shows and watch whatever human interest story they are carrying, along with the day's weather.

Although the television can be a nuisance if we give it too much time in our lives, it can also be a treasured means of gaining information and staying connected with the world. While we must be the ones to stay in control of how much we or our children view and we must be selective with all the unnecessary or unpleasant programming available, we also can greatly benefit from all that the television has to offer.

In our home, we home school our children, so we have often benefited from special programs on the history channel or PBS that complement something we recently studied. Science and nature programs and channels abound, so something educational is never far away. Documentaries on great leaders, authors or political figures are common and can be a wonderful means of education. Sporting events and the Olympics would not otherwise be viewed and enjoyed if it weren't for our television.

And we solemnly remember that fateful day on September 11, 2001, when the entire family, even our young children, sat in front of the television all day with tear-stained faces and prayers on our lips. We were horrified at what we were seeing, but we couldn't not watch. We had to be there and suffer with our fellow citizens in New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania.

In recent months, our teenaged son bought an X-box, so the television has gained a whole new status in our home. Saturday afternoon in our home often finds a dozen or so teenaged boys, having lugged over their own televisions to our house, to play a corroborated version of Halo II or football. While the television is the means of play, the boys laugh, cheer, eat lots of junk food, and generally have a very wholesome, good time together. Often Dad and the younger sisters even get involved and it becomes a family affair.

There have been times when we had to turn off the television for one reason or another. Bad attitudes came from watching less-than-pleasant sit-coms or movies; arguments broke out about who was going to watch what; or there were just the times when we allowed the TV to get in the way of precious family discussions.

All in all, the television is a good thing in our lives. As with everything, there needs to be a balance. We need to be selective and wise about what we watch. We need to set boundaries and limits on our viewing time. We need to educate our children about the advertisements and untruths often shown. In the end, we simply need to treat the television as a useful appliance that we own; not one that owns us.