Tips for Digital Kids

Our church recently hosted Walt Mueller from the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding to talk about parenting in a digital age. As an expert on youth culture, parent and grandparent he had many helpful insights and tips. I couldn't keep up with all the nuggets of truth he was dropping, but here are a few quick bits and pieces I jotted down:

• Immersion in technology makes us oblivious to the world (because we become accustomed to only seeing it through a screen), to each other (by being physically present but detached), to ourselves (because we are always reworking & remaking ourselves to gain likes instead of Christlikeness) and to God (culture is catechizing us instead of God). 
• Our habits & practices form us. The things we spend time with shape us. Are we growing in our faith or being misshapened by our consumption of tech?
• Be careful posting pride in your kids' appearance, athletics and academics--this can inadvertently communicate to our children that our love for them is performance based. Affirm them for who they are not how they look or what they do. Let their grades and accomplishments speak for themselves. 
• Fabricating, curating and promoting self becomes a counterfeiter/falsifier of people. 
• Before posting always take a purposeful pause to ask: Does this matter? Is it true? Why am I posting this God?
• Have a family covenant/code of conduct for tech use. (His website has a great example.)

1 Corinthians 10:31 "Whatever you do, do it to the glory of the Lord"
Proverbs 22:30 "The prudent see danger and turn from it, but the foolish keep going and suffer for it."

There were so many excellent points in his talk, I encourage you to check out the Digital Kids Initiative website for a plethora of resources.