When my son, Jake, was a little boy, we often watched movies and shows together and talked about the moral and ethical implications. We started very early. I remember when he was five asking him if it mattered if the jackals or the lions fed on the animals in “The Lion King.”

American Heroes.

A few days ago, I saw some clips from the mini-series (I believe it is an ITV production.) “Hornblower.” I am a big fan of C.S. Forester. When I was a teenager, I read all of the Hornblower stories. I have to admit as a very young person, their lessons of leadership and the importance of enduring injustice and unfairness were generally lost on me. That is one reason I think it is important to watch these programs with your children. The series is brilliant in its exposition of the moral choices confronting the young Hornblower and the choices that he made.

So, I asked Jake (now 31) what he got out of the series when we watched it so many years ago. Surprisingly he didn’t recall it that well. He told me that he felt that the most important ethical teachings he absorbed were from Star Trek. In particular, he talked about “The Next Generation” and “Deep Space Nine.” But then the conversation turned to the one program that we both found abundant lessons from: “Babylon Five.”

Jaks, specifically mentioned Londo Mallori’s descent into evil and eventual redemption in death as one lesson in morality that he had never forgotten. I have to agree that the show delivered up a healthy dose of moral lessons and the hard, cold difficulties inherent in doing what is right. I could write a dozen articles easily about its teachings.

And so, I have decided to encourage my kind readers to spend at least one night a week watching a program with moral implications with their children. And not just that, from time to time, I will talk about specific recommendations that I want to make and suggestions about what moral lessons can be drawn from specific programming.

Let us begin with my strong recommendations for “Star Trek, the Next Generation,” “Deep Space Nine,” and “Babylon Five” as well as “Hornblower.”

James Alan Pilant

P.S. You might in addition try “Sharpe’s Rifles!”