Digital Acculturation, toward a faith-based digital culture.

"I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar". Psalm 101:3a NLT.

In today's world, technology plays a critical role in every aspect of our lives, be it governance, faith, education, or work. As Christian parents, it is no longer a matter of whether to use digital devices or not, but rather, the question now is, "How?"

We use the term digital devices to refer to a wide range of technologies, such as phones, tablets, laptops, gaming consoles, streaming platforms, social media, and artificial intelligence.

Exposure and access to technology bestows a significant amount of advantages to children and teenagers such as:

1. Access to a world of knowledge and information: they can learn new things from the web of daily evolving scientific discoveries, much faster than they can access textbooks.

2. Opportunities for international collaboration with students from other climes

3. Enhanced and facilitated learning through the use of interactive boards and in-class collaborations with students from other nations in real-time

4. Exposure to cultures outside their immediate domain, etc.

On the flip side, access to digital devices has some disadvantages if not used appropriately and this is especially so for the Christian child. Information from devices and technology is accessed through the sensory modalities of our eyes and ears and they happen to be very strong doors for the human mind. What we see with our eyes and ears can be very pervasive at the unconscious level, leading to subtle changes in our thinking patterns and behaviours that we may not notice until they become entrenched and pronounced.

I vividly remember my oldest daughter's preschool years, when she would watch every Barbie episode she could find. However, I noticed a pattern of sulking and door slamming when she was reprimanded for doing something wrong, which I later realized was picked up from the show's teenage characters. Additionally, the show's content was not age-appropriate for her. As a result, we removed Barbie from our watchlist and replaced it with Sophia the Great and Dora the Explorer.

Sophia the Great was a personal favourite because it had many teachings on teamwork, character development, and friendship. However, I soon realized that as interesting as it was, it was subtly programming my children to believe in witchcraft and magic. That realization was the wake-up call for greater vigilance on what I allowed my children to watch or access for entertainment. We cleaned out everything and agreed on our family's digital culture: nothing anti-God or the Bible would feature in our entertainment, whether as music or movies.

The Bible gives us perspective into why this sort of decision is necessary:

“The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. If all the light you have is darkness, it is dark indeed!” Matt. 6: 22-23 (J.B Phillips New Testament).

The scripture above speaks of the strength of our eyes and how the things we see shape the course of our lives. We see this happen in our lives as adults and also in the lives of our children when there is indiscriminate consumption of technology. Documented negative impacts from inappropriate use of technology can manifest in the following ways among children and teenagers:

1. Exposure to inappropriate content: this is the principal concern that we should have as Christian parents. What are our children consuming online and how is it impacting their sense of identity and faith? The songs, the videos, the games and the social networks are all sources of concern. Lewd songs sung by circular artists who model inappropriate dressing, use of drugs and are overly sexualized are risk factors for the faith of a young person. Games that depict violence, murder and give virtual access to other individuals with questionable beliefs and characters are quite common. And porn? The internet is crawling with pornographic content targeted at young children and sexual predators that prey on young children. We could go on and on and yet not exhaust the range of inappropriate content that is rained down on our children via the little devices we put in their hands.

2. Projecting the spirit of fear into the hearts of children: when we allow children to watch cartoons and movies that contain horror and intense violence, we open up their minds to affliction by the spirit of fear. It is not uncommon for children to have nightmares and become afraid of being alone or in the dark after watching fear-provoking content. Even as adults, when we entertain ourselves with horror content, we sow seeds that the enemy uses to create images of fear and a higher consciousness of evil rather than a God consciousness in our children. The Bible specifically states that this is not of God, 2 Tim 1: 7 (TPT)

3. Digital Addiction: Technology can be addictive, and children are especially vulnerable to this. Even for us as adults, when we do not apply discipline and restraint, we become addicted, spending long hours on our devices scrolling aimlessly, ignoring our spouses and children when they are talking to us because we are glued to our phones to the extent that some marital relationships have become strained! Likewise, when children spend too much time using technology, they may neglect other important activities, such as playing, socializing, and learning. They may also experience withdrawal symptoms when they are not allowed to use technology.

4. Eye strain: Too much screen time can cause eye strain, headaches, and blurry vision. It can also lead to problems with sleep, as the blue light emitted from screens can interfere with the production of melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate sleep. Are you still asking yourself why your child finds it difficult to fall asleep at night?

5. Social isolation: Children who spend too much time using technology may become isolated from their peers and family members. They may also miss out on important social experiences, such as playing outside and participating in extracurricular activities. I mean, who needs to visit their friend next door when they have tons of friends in their palms and they don't need to ask you if they can go to visit Bayo or Ifeoma, they visit with just a ping on their devices.

6. Cyberbullying: Children who use technology can be exposed to cyberbullying, which is bullying that takes place online or through text messages. From closed-school peer virtual groups to random friends they meet online, cyberbullying is real! Children and teens are verbally clawing at each other in the fight for relevance and superiority. Cyberbullying can have a serious impact on your child/teen's mental health ranging from anxiety, depression and in extreme cases suicide.

These are not our intentions when we buy that phone or tab for our children or make a subscription to a streaming platform. However, the truth is that the world is still under the grip of its god and he uses all mediums to turn men away from God even right from an early age.

How can our children use devices in ways that enhance rather than erode their faith? Check out our post on "7 Steps to help your child develop a faith-based digital culture".