Now that Christmas is over, there will probably be new digital gadgets visible everywhere—including in the hands of your children and students. As parents and teachers, let’s be very careful how we navigate the waters of the digital age. For example, consider these words by Dr. Albert Mohler in response to a warning by the American Academy of Pediatrics:
It should tell us something that the nation’s pediatricians are alarmed about the media exposure of our children and teenagers. We should know that “there is no such thing as an educational program” for very young children and that what children really need is face time with parents and the experience of hands-on play.
Christian parents must consider this research carefully and candidly. We know that every technology comes with its own dangers, and the technologies of the screen offer subtle dangers as well as more obvious problems. We must prepare our children and teenagers for life in a world filled with screens, and this will be no easy task. But it starts with parents exercising control and preventing the alarming levels of screen exposure this research reveals.
(“In the Danger Zone: Raising Our Children in the Age of the Screen”, www.albertmohler.com)
And here are Dr. Mohler’s comments on other research,
Scientists are beginning to document the effects of digital exposure on the brain. They are finding that everything from phone calls (remember those?) to e-mail and text messages exacts a toll on the brain’s ability to concentrate and focus. Furthermore, they have identified a physiological reward for digital stimulation—a “dopamine squirt.” That little squirt of dopamine in the brain serves as a physiological pay-off for digital stimulation, and it can be habit-forming.
(“Meet the New American Family, Digitally Deluged”, www.albertmohler.com)
Summary: Parents, take heed! Carefully and intentionally prepare and train your children and youth for the digital age. As a first step toward this goal, here are several short articles by Dr. Mohler that are must reads for parents:
- "In the Danger Zone: Raising Our Children in the Age of the Screen"
- "The Dangerous Worlds of Analog Parents with Digital Teens"
- "Meet the New American Family, Digitally Deluged"
- "Screen Test: The Danger of Digital Fixation"
- "The Emergence of Digital Childhood—Is This Really Wise?"
(Image courtesy of Tung Photo at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.)
