[This is part 3 of a 3 part series on Teens & Technology. Be sure to read part 1 and part 2!]
We’ve clearly established that teens love to text and it’s clearly evident as a third of teens use text or socialize on a mobile device during mealtime. Jeremy had some great tips for parents and youth workers who have found this to be a problem. My solution would be to only eat meals that require two hands. 😉
But, what about during sermons and Sunday school?
Has your church or youth group banned mobile devices during teaching and preaching?
I’ve never liked this idea, especially for those that use their mobile device for note-taking or Bible reading; moreover, as Dustin Stout pointed out:
For me and my students, I have observed that allowing the use of technology increases the likelihood of my students engagement.
I also believe conditioning has a lot to do with our perspectives on the matter. If you’ve grown up with technology and you’ve always had screens in your face, like teens of today, perhaps a smartphone isn’t much of a distraction at all. However, that doesn’t mean all that screen time is a good thing. We must never underestimate an organic experience. Just as Jeremy Smith predicted:
In 20 years, if their faces are on their phones, they won’t have those memories. But if we put them away and share life together, we can impact their lives unlike any other time or place in their lives.
So true!
It’s really a fine line of balance we have to walk, here. Communication has undergone an incredible change in the past 10-15 years. Banning smartphones altogether or allowing free rein seems equally naive.
I think the solution is about balance. Understanding and defining a time and place for smartphone use.
Is smartphone use during church or youth group one of those times?
I think the answer can be best summed up by self-proclaimed agnostic Neil deGrasse-Tyson, as to why kids spend all of their time with their heads looking down at Facebook and playing video games:
“We aren’t doing anything to make them look up!”- Neil deGrasse-Tysson
Ouch.
[Image via Brandon Warren]
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