The average child spends 4-6 hours a day watching or using screens—teens up to 9 hours a day. Study after study has revealed that screen usage directly impacts brain development in our children. Add to that the hazards of inappropriate content, cyberbullying, advertising aimed at our children, misleading information, sleep problems, negative attitudes, poor behavioral examples, and more, and it's clear the family is up against a dangerous and prevalent rival for our kids' attention and respect.
If what we tune in to is what we turn into, then we have serious problems.
We better take a hard look at what we're allowing into our minds—parents and children alike. If what we tune in to is what we turn into, then we have serious problems. No wonder we have generations of children who are disrespectful to authority and their parents. They are modeling their lives based on what they are exposed to on any number of media accessible via screens.
I'm not just condemning the media and television. I believe Christians ought to invade the media. I always believe it's better to light a candle than to attack the dark.
But what we need today is absolute discipline in the family, or else the crisis is going to be of such magnitude that we will not be able to solve it. The reason children are inclined to learn from screens is that they are never too busy to talk to them.
Prayer: Father, I pray that You would help me spend less time on screens of my own and more time interacting with my family. Help me to be vigilant in guarding what I watch, listen to, and read, that I might glorify You in all that I do. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
"I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless" (Psalm 101:3, ESV).
Learn more in Dr. Michael Youssef's sermon series Building Godly Families: LISTEN NOW
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