My son wanted to watch as I sifted through an arsenal of fishing tackle on the garage floor. He watched curiously as Rapala crank baits gathered in one Plano organizer and sharpened octopus hooks were placed in another. Without warning, he said "Daddy, I think there's a hook in my finger." Like lightning, my eyes darted over to him, just an arm's length away. Did I leave a hook on the floor? Will I be able to remove it? Is the barb embedded in his finger? Investigating his hand and tugging at a small piece of metal, I became suddenly aware that he might be seriously hurt. Almost instantaneously, he held up the object and asked if it was a hook. I was relieved to see not a hook, but a sharp metal shaving from a damaged wheel stud. Though I've taken him fishing before, I need to be incredibly careful and thorough when sorting tackle. He's young enough to enjoy reeling in a fish, but not mature or aware enough to be trusted unsupervised around hooks.
Any parent would be heartbroken if their child got into the sharps drawer at home and wound up injured. Cutting shears, steak knives and utility blades are hidden in places well beyond the reach of children. Why? Because parents want their kids safe and are well aware of the dangers of such sharp objects.
As a dad of a young son and infant daughter, I'm finding that there are hidden dangers in the technology I carry around in my pocket. The answer of course, is not to throw away my phone, gather the villagers and run mobile technology out of town with pitchforks and torches. The solution is to become aware of the dangers and then set up boundaries in my life and home. Just as I wouldn't leave treble hooks, lead sinkers or crank baits on the floor for my son to toy with, I won't allow him unsupervised access to my phone. Here's 5 reasons why:
1.) It's addictive. Too much screen time is bad for the brain.
2.) It's too easy to access pornography.
3.) If he's posting pictures on Instagram, stalkers can find him.
4.) If he's on Facebook or Instagram, he has unrestricted access to the internet.
5.) I want him to thrive in genuine relationships, not wither in social media.
Just a few weeks ago, we hosted the Reveal Seminar with guest speakers Joshua Straub and Dan Lohrmann. We discussed how the internet is an accelerator (for business, blogs, books, you name it) and that as parents, we need to find the brakes! Our goal is to help you and your children live out your faith online and navigate social media and the digital age with integrity.
Here are some resources to help in your journey:
Joshua Straub: Author, blogger & healthy family builder
iParent.tv A website devoted to helping parents understand apps & hidden dangers
Covenant Eyes Internet accountability & filtering software
Center for Parent & Youth Understanding An accurate assessment of everything from video games to the MTv Music Video Awards.
Reveal: Guiding Toward Integrity
"How do I help my son get through this ordeal?" he must have been thinking when my dad sat me down and shared what he knew. With confidence he explained that each of the four ghosts in Pac-Man behaved differently; Pinky, Inky and Clyde were easily outmaneuvered. The key to safety was avoiding Blinky's relentless pursuit. Helping kids navigate technology looked very different when I was in second grade. Looking back, the Nintendo Entertainment System was just that: entertainment.
How I wish the biggest threat to my son was four pixelated ghosts and a blue maze! My three year old is growing up in a world immersed in touchscreen technology with unlimited access. Unlike my eight bit Nintendo, mobile devices are capable of far more than just entertainment: access to the internet is just one tap away. Access to the internet means access to everything, and honestly that scares me. Frankly, it should scare you too. Here's a few perspectives to consider:
Since its inception in 2007, Apple has sold over 700 million iPhones
Nearly 40% of kids under the age of two use an iPad before they speak
The average age of first exposure to internet pornography is 11 years
I'm not suggesting that you move your family to a seaside cave in western Oregon and live out your days eating wheat grass pancakes. Avoidance is not the answer. We've seen the influence of the internet increase and become more entwined in our daily lives, it's not going away. The question is "How do I help my kids navigate the internet with integrity while protecting my family?" The answer isn't a simple quick fix, it's a discussion and we want you to be part of it.
On Saturday, September 12th South Lansing Christian Church is hosting the Reveal Seminar. Our goal is to equip parents, educators and student ministry workers to lead children and students toward integrity both online and off. We've invited Dr. Joshua Straub and Dan Lohrmann to ignite the discussion.
We hope that you'll join us as we consider how to best guide our families in this developing digital age. Tickets are available for purchase here, but space is limited.
MOVE Update, Day 4
MOVE Day Four was entitled, You Are God, and we spent our day considering pride. In his morning devo, Mark Christian told us that pride and humility are the antithesis of each other. Yet, humility is not necessarily what most of us consider it to be. Humility is not about denying who we are or what we can do. It is about giving the glory for how we have been gifted to God. Pride says "I did this myself," while humility says, "God has given me this."
Our Daniel story for the morning was from Daniel 4, when King Nebuchadnezzar claimed all the glory for himself. The moment that King Neb claimed all the glory for his accomplishments and kingdom, God reduced him to a raving madman who went out like a wild animal. He lived in this manner until he repented and glorified God.
The fourth day of most MOVE weeks is usually a bit less busy. The morning flows like normal, with breakfast, morning session, encounter devotions, and d-group time, but then the day mellows out. Day Four is "skip a meal" day, followed by extended recreation. CIY uses the money saved by the entire campus skipping lunch on Day Four to further outreach and international kingdom focus. So our group headed to Burger King for lunch, and then out to Tunnel Beach on Lake Michigan. Our students and adults all had a blast!
When we came back together for evening session, our speaker, Dusty Frizzell, turned our attention toward another pride episode in Daniel. A succeeding king of Babylon, Belshazzar, chose to defile the holy vessels of God's temple by using them as table setting at a wild party. As the party heated up, a finger appeared and wrote a message of doom for Belshazzar and the Babylonian kingdom. Dusty emphasized God's holiness. He told us that any encounter with God's holiness leave us in complete awareness of our sinful condition.
We closed out the session thinking about being aware of God's presence. When students feel distant from God – which happens far too often - it's not because he’s actually absent. Instead, the problem is that students are unaware of God's presence, and are not doing anything to actively increase that awareness. As an end to the night, students were given bags on which they would write about what God has been saying to them this week. We used these bags to build a visible reminder of the presence of God.
One final day of MOVE remains. I look forward to God moving among our students tomorrow. Please Pray for us all to be aware of his presence.