5 Reasons Teens Struggle to Develop Good Spiritual Habits
Teens Spend ‘Mindboggling’ 9 Hours a Day Using Media
ENGAGE. EMPOWER. ENCOURAGE. November 2015
MONTHLY PUBLICATION TO BETTER EQUIP STUDENT MINISTRY VOLUNTEERS
TEENS SPEND ‘MINDB O G G L I N G ’ 9 H O U R S A D AY USING MEDIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 1
GOING BEYOND THE CLASSROOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 2
5 REASONS TEENS STRUGGLE TO D E V E L O P G O O D S P I R I T U A L HABITS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 3
MORE RESEARCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 3
W H AT ’ S H O T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 4
B O O K S TO C O N S I D E R R E A D I N G . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 4
COPYRIGHT - 2015
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Teens spend 9 hours a day using media K E L LY W A L L A C E , C N N , E D I T O R - AT- L A R G E C O V E R I N G F A M I LY You probably won't be surprised to hear that a the report found. new report found that teens and tweens spend "I think the sheer volume of media technology a lot of time watching TV, videos and movies, that kids are exposed to on a daily basis is playing video games, reading, listening to mind-boggling," said James Steyer, chief music and checking social media, but you executive officer and founder of Common might be somewhat shocked (I was!) by just Sense Media, in an interview. how much time. "It just shows you that these kids live in this On any given day, teens in the United States massive 24/7 digital media technology world, spend about nine hours using media for their and it's shaping every aspect of their life. They enjoyment, according to the report by spend far more time with media technology Common Sense Media, a nonprofit focused on than any other thing in their life. This is the helping children, parents and educators dominant intermediary in their life.” navigate the world of media and technology. The report, the first large-scale study to Let's just put nine hours in context for a explore tweens and teens' use of the full range second. That's more time than teens typically of media, according to Common Sense Media, spend sleeping, and more time than they is based on a national sample of more than spend with their parents and teachers. And the 2,600 young people ages 8 to 18. nine hours does not include time spent using When it comes to consuming media on screens, media at school or for their homework. including laptops. smartphones and tablets, Tweens, identified as children 8 to 12, spend teens, on average, spend more than six and a about six hours, on average, consuming media, half hours on screens and tweens more than IMMANUEL BAPTIST CHURCH STUDENT MINISTRY
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four and a half hours, the report found. "I just think that it should be a complete wakeup call to every parent, educator, policymaker, business person (and) tech industry person that the reshaping of our media tech landscape is first and foremost affecting young people's lives and reshaping childhood and adolescence," said Steyer, who's most recent book is ” Here are a few more eye-opening highlights about the media habits of Generation Z, according to the report:
No. 1: What's wrong with multitasking? If teens are, on average, spending nine hours a day consuming media, it's not such a surprise they're often doing it while doing their homework. Half of teens say they "often" or "sometimes" use social media or watch TV while doing their homework. Some 60% say they text and more than 75% say they listen to music while working on schoolwork at home. And of the kids who multitask, most don't think it effects the quality of their work. Nearly two-thirds say watching TV or texting makes no difference and more than 50% feel the same way when it comes to social media. "Teenagers think that multitasking during homework doesn't affect their ability to learn and ... we know it does," said Steyer, citing studies such as one at Stanford, which found dramatic differences in cognitive control and the ability to process information between heavy media multitaskers and light media multitaskers. "It's completely obvious that you can't multitask and be as effective and competent.”
No. 2: Boys choose Xbox, Girls Instagram There are definite gender differences when it comes to media habits of teens and tweens.
Some 62% of teen boys say they enjoy playing video games "a lot" versus 20% of girls. When it comes to using social media, 44% of teen girls say they enjoy it "a lot" versus 29% for boys. Girls, on average, spend about 40 minutes more on social networks than boys, with girls spending about an hour and a half a day on social media and boys a little under an hour. "I definitely think it shows that girls use media and technology today for more social interaction and boys are much more likely to be gamers, including addicted gamers," said Steyer of Common Sense Media. "There are real differences between boys and girls so that's a message to parents and educators, you have to be aware of the differences.”
No. 3: The digital equality gap is real While ours kids are growing up in a 24/7 digital world, children in lower income households have less access to technology than kids from wealthier families. Only 54% of teens in households making less than $35,000 a year have a laptop in their home versus 92% of teens in households making $100,000 a year or more. "There's an access gap that whether you like the impact of media or technology on our kids' lives and there are pros and cons, the truth is poor kids have far less access than wealthy kids do and that's just wrong especially when Internet platforms and digital platforms are so key to everything from school to getting a job to connecting with other people," said Steyer. "So closing the digital inequality gap is a huge public-policy issue."
No. 4: Guess what? TV and music still tops Despite all the new media tweens and teens have at their disposal -- everything from Instagram to YouTube to Xbox, tweens and teens still rank watching TV and listening to
music as the activities they enjoy "a lot" and do every day, ahead of playing video games and mobile games, watching online videos and using social media. In fact, only 10% of teens ranked social media as their favorite activity. "I think the bottom line there is it's a utility now," said Steyer referring to social media. "Increasingly kids are realizing that Facebook and Instagram and SnapChat, they go there and ... they feel they have to go there but they don't love it and that's good. In my opinion, that's good."
No. 5: 'It's a mobile world' Consider these stats: 53% of tweens -- kids 8 to 12 -- have their own tablet (my kids will try to use this as ammunition to get a tablet of their own!), and 67% of teens have their own smartphones. Mobile devices account for 41% of all screen time for tweens and 46% for teens. "It's a mobile world so these kids live on mobile platforms," said Steyer. "I mean if you look at the numbers, it's clear that you have this clear transformation of teens and tweens' lives through digital and mobile platforms." The implications of this digital transformation are huge for tweens and teens, educators, policymakers and parents. For one, living and communicating via mobile devices gets in the way of empathy, said Steyer. Texting is so much less empathetic than having a conversation in person and looking somebody in the eye and having physical or at least a verbal presence with them, he said. Add in the issues of digital addiction and the attention and distraction implications that come with mobile devices, and "empathy is really, really under siege," he said. "That's a huge issue in terms of society and human relationships and how young people are evolving in a social, emotional context." he added, saying more research is needed.
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5 Reasons Teens Struggle to Develop Good Spiritual Habits ANDY BLANKS, CO-FOUNDER OF YM360
We all want to see our students mature in their faith habits. We want them to have a more vibrant prayer life. We want them to be more consistent in spending time with God through Scripture reading. We want to see them embrace a lifestyle of
worship. And these are good things to want. But recently, I was thinking about why this can be a struggle. Why is it so difficult for some of our students to grow in their pursuit of spiritual disciples? As we lead our teenagers in developing good spiritual habits, I think it's important for us to realize the challenges
they, and we, are up against.
MORE ARTICLES AND RESEARCH ✴ 6 Facts About Teenage Romance in Digital Age (Pew Research) ✴ Ministering to the Needs of Parents (Youth Specialties) ✴ Early Life Stress Major Risk Factor for Adult Depression (Psych Central) ✴ Alcohol Can Rewire the Teenage Brain (Student Science)
Here are a few that came to my mind:
Time It kills me when I see how busy or students are. As I get older, it seems like the students I work with are juggling responsibilities way beyond what just a few years ago was considered normative. Sports are the main culprit, it seems. But between the myriad of extra-curricular activities and the hours of homework our kids have each night, carving out time to spend in meaningful prayer and study of Scripture is not easy. It's also not as impossible as some of them make it out to be (can you sense my well-meaning frustration???). But, it is a very real challenge.
Disconnect With Scripture One of the biggest obstacles for students (especially younger ones) is simply the normal challenge of reading Scripture. A while back, I asked one of my small group students how his personal time reading
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the Bible had been going. He was using a devotional book that had him read Psalm 104. He said that he was simply struggling with applying all the language to his life. I looked at the psalm: "There the birds make their nests; the stork has its home in the junipers. The high mountains belong to the wild goats; the crags are a refuge for the hyrax." I told him that I
could totally understand how he got a little hung up. (It gave me a great chance to remind him that one of the reasons we meet in our small groups is to work through questions we have about what we read in our personal times of devotions) The Bible is challenging for students and adults alike. Part of our role as leaders is to help students understand and apply Scripture to their lives. It's vital in helping develop good spiritual habits.
Cultural Clash Let's face it: the type of spiritual disciplines we try to instill in our students (prayer, Scripture reading, evangelism, service, etc.) run pretty counter to the culture teenagers find themselves in. These types of practices are very counter-cultural to the world they find themselves living in. Helping them value these practices is the first step, even before we lead them to develop these spiritual habits.
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We have to work together with parents to lead students to develop spiritual disciplines, especially with younger students. However, there are a ton of parents who care about their teenager's spiritual habits but either A) do not feel equipped to shepherd their children (which is another post for another day), or B) are just really, really busy. I tend to shake my head at these parents (even as I sometimes see myself in these indictments). But, I need to be more understanding. There are parents in your youth ministry with two or three children in high school. These parents have careers. They also have one child in the band, one in show choir, and one playing football. By the time they chauffeur and organize and provide meals and make sure homework is done, all after working a long day, they are whipped. And sometimes they don't have the energy to spend making sure their children have spent meaningful time in Scripture on a particular day. Is this ideal? No. But it's reality in many cases. For several reasons, we don't always get to benefit from the kind of teamwork we'd like to see when it comes to helping develop good spiritual habits in the students we lead. COPYRIGHT - 2015
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Our Own Sin-Nature Let's not forget that in our hearts, our students and ourselves have a default lean toward selfishness and rebellion. We don't always seek God. We oftentimes seek our own comfort. Left to their own designs, our students would rather watch The Voice, or play Call of Duty, or read about our favorite team on Rivals.com than commune with God in prayer and Bible Study. It's why it's called spiritual discipline. It takes effort. And as we work with students who are young in their faith, we will encounter this even more. So, what can we do? Keep plugging away. I want to see my students grow in Christ. I want to see your students do the same. And though I want it now, I know it will come. I trust in the Holy Spirit and His ability to empower all of us toward spiritual maturity. So, encourage your students to hang in there. And you do the same. Recognize the challenges, but don't be overwhelmed by them, and don't use them as an excuse.
Which adult changes the trajectory of a life? #1. ‘Teen, see how cool I am.’ or #2. ‘Teen, see how valuable you are to Jesus and to me.’ Dr. Richard Ross
BOOKS TO CONSIDER READING ✴ STORY THRU THE BIBLE (WALK THRU THE BIBLE) ✴ HURT 2.0 (CHAP CLARK) ✴ YOUTH WORKER’S GUIDE TO HELPING TEENAGERS IN CRISIS (RICH VAN PELT) ✴ CAN I ASK THAT: HARD QUESTIONS ABOUT GOD AND FAITH (JIM CANDY)
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