Don't hesitate to censor media that violates your family's values. Censorship is a loaded word, but censoring is an appropriate act for parents and teachers of young children. Reject media that violates your family's values and establish guidelines your children can follow. And though you can't eliminate the presence of all junk media, you can use it as a teaching opportunity to explore and contrast you family's values against those messages conveyed through media. Emphasize the programming, not the medium.
TV is a poor reward for good behavior.
By rewarding children with generic television watching, you risk placing more importance on TV than it deserves. To combat generic television watching, use a VCR to tape the quality programs you like. Also, develop a media use plan with your family. By using colored markers to highlight quality programs in the TV listings, you can provide your children with a visual reference of programs that are acceptable to watch. Even if you don't stick to the plan, your kids will get the message that it's important to choose programs, not just watch television.