Preparing Your Kids for a Scrolling World

A few months ago I sat with my son in the waiting room at the orthodontist’s office. I was reading a book entitled Scrolling Ourselves to Death. My son pointed out with a grin that all the other people in the waiting room were scrolling on their phones. This led to one conversation among many we’ve been having lately in our home about how to use the internet wisely.

When the internet first became available in homes, many Christian conversations focused on the destructive power of pornography that is so readily available through the internet. That continues to be a significant concern as I teach my kids to use the internet well. But in the last few years as our kids got their first devices for school, I became aware of a much more subtle pull that the internet and app-making industry offers us that can seem quite harmless at first.

Endless scrolling in so many applications allows us to keep coming back for a dopamine hit whenever we have a spare moment. One could argue that it is harmless as long as the content isn’t sinful. However, it functions like a gateway drug that ends in a life lived for one’s own satisfaction.

This might eventually look like someone addicted to pornography or it might just be a life consumed with reading and watching endless news snippets, hot takes, or cat videos. As Christian dads, we must prepare our children to live life driven by God’s priorities found in His Word, not whatever a software algorithm is currently serving up for their temporary pleasure.

Let’s consider 3 things that a scrolling world tells us and biblical truths that we can share with our kids to help them live counter to these unbiblical cultural norms.

1. Scrolling through more information will make you happy.

This lie has been around since the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 3, the serpent promised Eve that she could know more and that it would result in wisdom (knowing how to live life better). All she needed to do was to reject God’s words and listen to the serpent. I don’t believe it is overstating the application that the promise of technology is that we can have more experiences than would be humanly possible in a physical world.

God has given us physical limitations like space and time and called us to live in them. Former Netflix CEO Reed Hastings boldly pointed out that Netflix’s biggest competitor is not other streaming services, but sleep. God ordained sleep and we need to welcome rest as a way to accept God’s design for us. It’s not wrong to watch a video about a place you might never get to, but to constantly scroll through short videos that overwhelm your mind so that you can never focus on spiritual things is not wise. With the average screen time for teens at 8 hours a day, it is critical that our children choose to use their time to pursue God first before allowing scrolling the internet to consume most of their day.

Truth: God will satisfy you.

Psalm 16:11 encapsulates the message of Scripture by saying that when we dwell with God we can experience a fulfilled life. In John 15, Jesus repeats this message by proclaiming that those who abide in Him experience full joy.

Live it Out: Share your victories and failures with your kids.

Let your kids know about the times that you have scrolled through content and found it empty. Tell them more about what you are learning from God’s Word and the joy you experience from that than what you saw on the internet that was interesting.

When you determine that your kids are old enough to use an internet connected device, talk through how they will use it intentionally. What kind of content will they consume? How will they allow God to dominate their thoughts instead of what they learn on the internet? For a helpful grid on how to prioritize content, check out this article by Growing Father’s author John Pate. Review screen time categories together and talk about how their consumption impacted them spiritually.

2. You can forget everything from the past; only what’s happening right now matters.

It doesn’t take long browsing through a feed on social media or a news site to see where the majority of the content comes from. It’s all about what’s going on now. Tomorrow there will be a whole new set of videos and perspectives on what is going on then. The top headlines today will be forgotten tomorrow or next week. This could cause us to focus on only what is happening now, but God’s Word calls us to something different.

Truth: God’s Word calls us to remember His works as we work through the problems of today.

In Psalm 77:11, Asaph commits in the midst of trouble to remember what God has done in the past as a source of hope. Romans 15:4 tells us that the Old Testament points us in hope to how God has worked in the lives of others so that we can have hope today.

Live it Out: Review the works of God as a family.

This should include looking at God’s works in Scripture, but don’t neglect learning about how God has worked throughout history. Make a plan to help your family remember what God has done in the past - both historically for others and in your own family. Thankfulness journals are a great way to have a reminder of how God has worked - they can be something you write everyday or maybe a journal focused on a particular season of joy or difficulty.

3. You never need to think about anything deeply.

Video marketers tell us that for scrolling content videos, you have to catch someone’s attention in the first 3 seconds. Scrolling does not create long attention spans, but instead looks for a quick dose of dopamine as the reward. It becomes harder and harder to think deeply about important things.

Truth: God’s Word calls us to think deeply about many things.

The psalms mention 13 times the blessings of meditating on God, His works, and His law. This is a call to think deeply about these truths. Romans 12:2 calls believers to renew their minds regularly with God’s Word. It would be a hard argument to make that Paul is only telling believers to “scroll” through the truths in the first 11 chapters of Romans.

Live it Out: Practice thinking deeply as a family.

Read or listen to long form material like books together. Don’t just read it, but engage with it by writing down significant points and asking questions about it. Keep notes in an organized fashion to have accessible later and help your kids work through how to do the same.

Conclusion

As Christian dads, we need to push back against our culture when it pulls us away from God. Sometimes this happens in clear ways through actions that are directly condemned in Scripture. Other times, we must guard our families against the slow whittling away of the life God has given us by things that don’t matter. Let’s be faithful to instruct our kids in the ways of God when we walk, sit, or scroll.