by Chris Elrod
They say, “never say never!” Yet, there are things we should be willing to say never to, especially as Christians. I am beginning to wonder if parents should tell their kids, “Never!” when it comes to social media. Certainly, this is a bold take and might seem extreme. Yet, the evidence points to social media as being extremely dangerous for teenagers and I’m not sure the benefits it offers adults is worth the spiritual and mental risk that comes to us as well.
The fact of the matter is that when we give our children access to social medias, we are giving them highly addictive platforms that allows companies to profit off our children’s attention. Our teens don’t need any more worldly influences shaping them, yet when we allow our children to have access to social media, we are giving our teens the opportunity to become addicted to worldly influences. The algorithms don’t care about spiritual growth. No social media company is interested in our children’s safety, and this is why this matters. Christians must be proactive. God has given parents the responsibility to protect their children from physical and spiritual harm.
I wonder if giving our teens social media is like lighting a cigarette and putting it in our child’s mouth. Much like lung cancer can stay undetected, the toil of social media goes undetected. At least at first, until it begins to be seen in the teens diminishing mental health. Or worse it allows sin to creep in and remain undetected until it’s taken over.
Young parents who have small children please develop a plan for how you will approach social media, now. Don’t wait until your children begin to want social media, develop a plan now. Maybe it looks like saying, “Never!” Afterall, the men and women who lead the social media companies don’t allow their children to have access to these platforms.
If you have allowed your children to have access to social media, you are not a bad parent. I would encourage you to ask how social media is benefiting your teen and research the dangers involved. Remember you are the leading authority in their lives. Maybe they need to see Matthew 18:8-9 come to life as you play an active role in helping them remove things that cause temptation. At the very least, please have conversations with your teens regularly about the impact social media has on their life and help them put healthy boundaries in place.
Ultimately, we decide if it will be in our life and in our children’s life, and if it will be a spiritual hinderance. I hope this reminder has been as helpful for you, as it has been for me.