The video makes you think.  Prince EA is good for that.  It makes you wonder about how much our culture is consumed with technology.  Do we allow technology to run our lives?  Or are we using it wisely, glorifying God and what His plan for us is?  Take a quick second.  Watch it.  It will only take a few minutes.

Convicting, right?  What blows my mind is that this video was originally created nine years ago.  What if he knew how much has changed from then till now?  Would his video have been different?  Still, the heartbeat of Prince EA’s message is timeless: we cannot let technology rule our lives.

Now we are in the heat of summer.  Satan is turning up the furnace with extra time to be on screens, and if you are a stay-at-home dad like me, quite frankly I loathe fighting this battle with my teenage boys.  But I know I have to.  If I don’t fight the good fight here, I am allowing technology to rule my boys.

Fortnite.

YouTube influencers.

Need I say more?

Our church was blessed to have a parent night this past Thursday about teenagers and screen time.  One of our local public school counselors who attends our campus led the session.  The statistics and stories were mind blowing.  Here is just a snippet of what I learned …

• When you are on your device in front of your kids, narrate what you are doing out loud.  It will help them realize that technology is more than just gaming and fun.
• Kids despise parents who tell them to get off their screens as they themselves scroll Facebook.  They don’t want parents who are hypocrites.  They want a mom and dad who model what they expect.
• Smartphones affect so many areas: body image, porn, sleep, Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO), eating disorders, cyberbullying, addiction, and relational aggression.  I didn’t even list them all. 
• Apparently, girls will many times ask for passwords to different social media accounts of their friends.  They use them to sabotage one another, and if passwords are not shared, they shun each other. 
• Did you ground your teen from their phone?  Watch out.  They are getting on their friend’s device to log in and play around.  Kids are sneaky like that. Like ninjas.
• The human brain does not fully develop until 26 years of age, yet our youth think they know everything.  Their minds are being shaped by popular YouTubers and influencers. 
• In 2012 smartphones BOOMED.  There is a direct correlation between this year and the amount of kids suffering from depression.  The graph we looked at was astounding.
• Kids are professional maskers.  They struggle with sharing their own opinions and will put on a façade that says everything is okay.  To be let into their world is a treat, and we cannot just give up on trying.
• The counselor said it was recommended that two hours per day of screen time is enough for anyone.  That includes any screen.  Phone.  TV.  Computer.  One word comes to mind … YIKES! It took me an hour to write this. I only have an hour left!
• Kids are having Face Time sleepovers.  While you hit the sack, they are face-timing until 3:00 am.  IF you allow your kids to have their phones at night that is.
• An estimated 30 percent of people are lying about their age online.  That could be more towards the low end, according to the counselor. 
• It is recommended that kids not have smartphones until high school.  Their brain development coincides with that, yet we see kids as young as kindergarten that have smartphones. 

Man, this stuff still infuriates me.  Sadly, much like Jesus tells us to take the log out of our own eye (Matthew 7:3-5), much of this applies to me as well.  Then I start feeling overwhelmed, inadequate, and completely inept to regulate my boys.  This is Satan’s evil ploy to try to get me to give up. 

Pathetic. 

But there is hope!  There were plenty of suggestions to combat the ridiculousness of the problems listed above.  I was so thankful for these ideas …

• Get kids to read.  Not on their device either.  I am talking about a real book.  They just need to find their genre.  Whether it is fantasy, non-fiction, or realistic fiction, they NEED to read! 
• Read aloud to kids.  When kids hear books aloud, they understand how words are supposed to be read.  With feeling!  I cannot wait to read The Outsiders with my boys this summer!  It arrives in the mail today.
• Try an audiobook on a family vacation car ride.  Pick something the whole family might enjoy.  Or just get on YouTube to find a number of free books that teachers have created.  (Shameless plug … If you have a middle schooler, my Freak the Mighty audiobook has become popular: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn3bLqfd4D4&list=PLg-J652UZsr1tcnI4ADcahqMLXb405v41)
• Get outside.  Go on hikes and observe the nature God has created for us to enjoy. 
• Serve.  My beautiful wife took my boys to Mission Southside yesterday.  They got to package meals and help carry bags of clothes for the homeless.  Very fulfilling!
• Try having a family No Technology Night.  Play a board game instead.  Or take a family walk around the neighborhood.
• Guess what?  It is okay for kids to be bored.  We do not need to plan their entire day.  Allow this to sink in so you do not feel pressure to roadmap every single second.
• Have a family screen time contract that sets rules and parameters.  Our family will soon be doing this in the afternoon.  Today.  (Yes, this blog is completely to help me digest all this information before our meeting.  Take that, Satan!)
• Charge your kids devices outside of their rooms.  Especially if they are consumed by them. 
• Figure out how to set limits digitally, shutting them off after a certain amount of time. 
• Have the entire family create a list of things to do outside of screen time: chores, sports, hobbies, anything.
• Try not to micromanage EVERYTHING.  The effect of this many times is kids totally exploding when they are sent off to live on their own.  If they are held back by 900 rules, they will want to break them.
• Have conversations.  Without screens.  Ask anything from something fun to something serious.  (Examples: Would you rather try to ride a crocodile or wake a sleeping lion?  What is your biggest fear in life?)

I tell you what I am going to do.  Once I have created our family’s screen time contract, I will share it here with you.  In the meantime, you are welcome to Google different contracts.  Here are some I found free online as well as advice on how to go about it:

• https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/when-kids-call-the-shots/201804/the-best-technology-screen-time-contract-kids
• https://www.screenagersmovie.com/resources/screen-time-contracts
• https://kidmatterscounseling.com/blog/how-to-create-a-screen-time-contract-for-your-family/

I am not an expert on this stuff, but I am becoming more informed.  And I will confess that as I was writing this blog, I called my oldest son downstairs to get started on his Saturday chores.  He appeared wearing nothing but his underwear, looked at his chore chart, and told me he would do it later. 

Not so fast big guy!  I am coming up as soon as this is posted!  Oh yes, it just got real.  Daddy is tired of your silly Jedi mind tricks. And you WILL do your chores. With or without clothes on! 

By the way, if any of you has something to share with me, reply back here.  Give me your thoughts.  Share a suggestion or two.  Or just say, Hey, Clint, I am praying for you!  We are all in this fight together.  Let’s unite forces to help out our screenagers. 

I mean teenagers.

On a side note, my last blog about small groups allowed me to get the suggestion to bring a casserole to our men’s group this morning! Instead, they got donuts from Hy-Vee.

Brock, you’re up for treats next week. I prefer bacon in my casserole over sausage. Just FYI.

Link to our Family Screen Time Contract: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1evipurTc_iCDlrgkrdFEU8mzNetRSooQ/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=108591389573691390484&rtpof=true&sd=true