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"Thanks
for all you do! In
addition to saving us time (and
money!), your reviews have
helped me have good discussions
with my son about how important
it is to make choices that
reflect our values." - Laura,
Austin, Texas
"This is
by far the best website I have
found for Christian schools to
see the content of books without
having to read them all.
Keep up the good work!" -
Gloria, Savannah Christian
Preparatory School
"I was
able to use the service to
determine if what my daughter is
reading is appropriate. It
turns out that there are a few
touchy subjects that I need to
discuss with her about the book
she's reading now. The
site is a huge blessing for
today's busy parents." -
Michelle, San Antonio,
Texas
"Discovery
Journey helps me be a better
parent. Knowing what my
children are reading and viewing
affords me an opportunity to
have more open communication
with them." - Peggy -
Atlanta, Georgia
"Your
commitment to good character is
demonstrated first hand in your
prompt and thorough response." -
Natasha - Naperville,
Illinois
"Your
service is outstanding." -
Amy - Lizella, Georgia
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Discovery Journey's Character
Score
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Books and Movies at DiscoveryJourney earn one of
Four classifications to help you choose the right
content for your child on their Discovery Journey.
The Character Score is intended to give you a quick
indication of a book or movie's character content.
This can be sometimes difficult to express in numbers,
which is why we also back up every objective rating with
both positive and negative examples so that you can form
your own judgment and match books and movies to your
values.
First Class Fare
 |
|
Books and Movies that achieve the first
class fare (85 and above) score well in all but
a few of the 17 criteria that we evaluate.
As in real life, these books and movies come
with lots of extras, except in this case, the
journey is not only better but the destination
is better too! These books and movies
generally have great integral value messages and
rarely have negative behavior examples.
We consider these books and movies to be must
read if they fit your child's interest and
suggested age group. |
Business Class Fare
 |
|
Books and Movies that achieve the business
class fare (75-84) score well in most of the 17
criteria that we evaluate and just like the
real-life business class ticket, they are better
than the average book and movie in terms of
character messages. Generally speaking,
these books and movies will have strong or very
strong value messages and might have minimal or
some negative behavior examples. |
Coach Class Fare
 |
|
Books and Movies that achieve the coach
class fare (65-74) score well in about half of the 17 criteria that we evaluate.
These books are comparable to the traditional
coach fare representing the average, hopefully
good, book and movie experience.
These books and movies will have one or more
character messages, but they might not be very
strong or they might be in only one category.
In addition, there probably are some negative
behavior examples to watch out for with your
child. Fortunately, our reviews identify
these for you. |
Cancelled Flight
 |
|
Books and Movies that don't score well
(below 65) according to our system receive the
cancelled flight status. This usually
means that the book didn't score well in
the majority of the 17 criteria that we
evaluate. These books are comparable
to what happens when your flight is cancelled,
it will probably end up being a bad experience.
The writing and story may be great, but this
score usually means that we failed to find strong character messages and/or there were
significant negative behavior examples in the
book. |
We want to stress that just because we identify
negative character messages or negative behavioral
examples, that doesn't mean that the book or movie is
not right for you and your child. First, we strive
to tell you everything in the book or movie and let you
choose the content that matches the values you want to
pass on. Second, if you follow our system of being
involved with your child's reading, the negative issues
are actually items to discuss about the material and are
excellent methods of learning from example.
|
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Discovery Journey's review categories are modeled after The Book of Virtues for Young People, an
excellent book for children in its own right, written by Bill
Bennett. At Discovery Journey, we review each children's
book and movie for both positive and negative examples of each
of the 10 virtues outlined in The Book of Virtues for Young
People,
resulting in a score for each virtue ranging from 1-6.
The stronger the message, the stronger the higher the score.
|
Self-Discipline |
Proficient at time management,
Controlling one's temper, ego, and what you say.
Recognizing your limits. Manners. |
|
Compassion |
Understanding from others
point of view. Doing something to help
others. Self sacrifice. |
|
Responsibility |
Accepting the consequences of
your actions and performances. Knowing obligations
to others and meeting them. Negative - Leaving
responsibilities unmet or avoiding responsibility.
|
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Friendship |
Wishing for good things for a
friend and trying to bring them about. Giving
virtues, loyalty, and trust. Trying to make a
friend a better person. Lift the other person up.
Choosing friends wisely. |
|
Work |
Understanding that having a
positive attitude makes work enjoyable.
Recognizing the reward of work - the satisfaction of a
job well done. Doesn't avoid work. |
|
Courage |
Standing to face fears when
afraid. Staying cool in bad times. Having
the courage of your convictions. Negative - false
courage is talking loud but not acting. Beating up
the weak. Doing foolish tricks.
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Perseverance |
Continuing to work towards a
goal even after many false starts or failures. |
|
Honesty |
Always telling the truth to
others, even when tempted by seeing others benefit by
lying. Being honest to yourself. Keeping
your self-respect. |
|
Loyalty |
Seriously caring about
relationship and willing to show it through your
actions. Loyalty to friends, teams, and countries.
Ready to put another before yourself, possibly
self-sacrifice. |
|
Faith |
Belief in a higher power,
Religion, which grounds the person's morals and virtues. |
We then deduct points for negative behavior influences that we find in
the book. The number of points that are deducted
depends on the amount and type of examples we find in a
substantially objective format. The categories of
behavior influences are:
| Violence |
We evaluate the amount of
violence:
None
Minimal
Some
Extensive
Next, we evaluate the type of
violence:
Implied
Intense
Graphic
Gory
A book or movie will receive an
initial violence score based on the extent of the
violence. A movie with minimal implied
violence such as a someone causing damage to an object
occurring off-screen as the only violence will rate very
high in this category. If a book describes
several extensive gory scenes, that book would receive a
very low rating in this category. In addition to
examples, each review indicates the overall amount and
type of violence to be found in the child's book or
movie.
Finally, we deduct points for
specific violent examples that we look for in each
child's book and movie:
Emotional violence
Child Abuse
Satanic violence
Suicide
Animal Cruelty
Vandalism
Bully violence
and other items that
will and do appear.
In addition to citing the specific
example, these keywords appear in the review.
|
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Language |
We evaluate the amount of
offensive language:
None
Minimal
Some
Extensive
This provides a base rating for
the book or movie in this category.
Next, we deduct points for
specific profanity that we look for in each child's book
and movie:
The use of God or
Jesus in the profanity
Sexual terms or
profanity
Vulgar
Offensive or profane
gestures
In addition to citing the specific
example, these keywords appear in the review. We
recognize that different families have different
standards regarding the use of bad language. To
that end, you will see us report words that anyone
might find offensive. |
|
Nudity |
We evaluate the amount of nudity
appearing in a movie or described in a child's book:
None
Minimal
Some
Extensive
This provides a base rating for
the book or movie in this category.
Next, we deduct progressively
higher points depending on the extent of the nudity
displayed or described:
Art - painting or
photograph
Cleavage - low cut
dressing
Suggestive clothing,
skin tight, etc.
Rear - male or female
Upper front female
Full frontal male or
female
In addition to citing the specific
example, these keywords appear in the review. |
|
Sexual Content |
We evaluate the amount of sexual
content:
None
Minimal
Some
Extensive
Next, we evaluate the type of
sexual content:
Conversation
Implied
Obvious
Graphic
This
provides a base rating for the book or movie in this
category.
Next, we deduct points for
specific sexual content that we look for in each child's
book and movie:
Violent
Prostitution
Masturbation
Unmarried
and other items that
will and do appear.
In addition to citing the specific
example, these keywords appear in the review. |
|
Drugs, Alcohol, and Tobacco |
For each vice, we evaluate the
amount that it is displayed or described:
None
Minimal
Some
Extensive
In this category, we indicate
whether the book or movie discourages, accepts, or
promotes the activity. |
|
Scary Elements |
We evaluate the amount of scary
elements:
None
Minimal
Some
Extensive
Next, we evaluate the type of
scary elements:
Minor
Intense
This
provides a base rating for the book or movie in this
category. Examples are provides in addition to the
rating. |
|
Negative Behaviors |
We evaluate the amount of negative
behavior:
None
Minimal
Some
Extensive
Next, we deduct points for
specific negative behavior that we look for in each
child's book and movie:
Talking Back
Gambling
and other items that
will and do appear.
In addition to citing the specific
example, these keywords appear in the review. |
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