Andy Flannagan offers hope to Christian parents who are concerned about the impact of the culture wars on their children and young people
What do your teens and children think about politics? What are their views on immigration? Crime and policing? Welfare reform? If you think they don’t have views you might want to check again, many do and part of the reason for that is the extent to which recent events are being covered on social media, it’s everywhere - but who is producing the content and what angle are they taking? What our children think about recent events and where they get their information from is up there as one of the most important things Christian parents can attend to right now.
the struggle we face as Christian parents is helping our youth and children to see the dangers of the echo chambers that they might get sucked into online around these issues
It won’t have escaped your attention that discussions around politics have become increasingly tense and divisive in recent times. You’ll have also noted that comments and events have also become increasingly religious which is new, in England and Wales at least. Charlie Kirk was shot, and the ensuing comments have focused on his politics and his religion. In the UK, the Unite the Kingdom march saw patriotic and Christian symbols displayed together.
Part of the struggle we face as Christian parents is helping our youth and children to see the dangers of the echo chambers that they might get sucked into online around these issues. However, as soon as I say that we all know that what is true for them is just as much true for us. In all this, they and us have three interconnected problems: the technological, the political and the personal. In this and the next two articles we will unpack those and consider the solution that the gospel brings. Firstly then, the technological problem …
My thumb is so practised in the art of accessing information that my conscious mind no longer has to lead it
What is it that makes the online world of news and social media so addictive? Why am I and my children tempted to check a phone rather than interact with the person who is in the room with us? There is a visceral aspect to ‘checking in’ with the latest news, a social media feed, a cricket score, or a family WhatsApp group. My thumb is so practised in the art of accessing this information that my conscious mind no longer has to lead it.
Why do I so desperately need to know what is happening? Maybe it’s because we love our friends and we want to be able to pray for them more intelligently. Maybe we need to be abreast of world events to be an engaged citizen of planet earth. All those things are plausible, but does it explain why need to know RIGHT NOW?
In truth, the breadth of information at our fingertips these days more regularly leads to paralysis rather than to meaningful action
Will we really know what is happening with our friends (social media after all is heavily edited and selective)? Will knowing about the world really lead to action in the next 5 minutes? Will we launch our own personal disaster response team to an earthquake zone? Will we be writing to our MP or standing for parliament in response to what we have just read? Probably not – we just want to know. And apart from us being more informed (in a superficial click-through kind of way), what has been achieved? It all reminds me of the classic line whispered by many of us, “this is just for your prayers” - when in truth we just want to have a good gossip about someone.
We distract ourselves in the shallows from doing the hard yards of digging deep into an area of expertise or the rigour of practising a hard-won skill that is not benefitted by knowing which celebrity has put their foot in it today. In truth, the breadth of information at our fingertips these days more regularly leads to paralysis rather than to meaningful action. Even while writing this article, I have been tempted more than a few times to click away to find out what is happening NOW rather than focussing on writing. This dynamic isn’t surprising in the context of ‘powers that be’ that make a lot of money from keeping us as consumers rather than producers. This applies directly to the world of information as much as it applies to the marketing of physical products.
Novelty is the carbohydrate of our information stream. It’s the quick sugary hit that makes us feel better and connected or superior to others
I think my need to feel connected to everything that is happening everywhere constantly speaks of a vacuum in my own connectedness to the One who is longing to connect with me. I get my status and satisfaction by consuming information before anyone else, and it compensates (badly) for the status and satisfaction I am designed to glean from my connection with all-present, all-focused, all-loving God.
If the majority of our incoming information stream is “what’s happening” and is curated by someone else then it can make so much noise that we stop listening for the still small voice, who wants to lead us into what he is doing. But if my primary question is “God, what are you doing?” then my actions may develop in an altogether different direction.
We are now bombarded with all the carnage of the world constantly. That is not good for our mental health. Our diet needs to change
Obviously, things aren’t as black and white as I describe here but the point is still worth considering. I don’t think most of us are designed for a monkish existence, ignoring current affairs. But I do think the pendulum needs to swing somewhat back in that direction. Novelty is the carbohydrate of our information stream. It’s the quick sugary hit that makes us feel better and connected or superior to others. We need more of the fibre of ancient wisdom and the starch of community listening.
Read more:
3 ways Christian parents can take the lead on healthy smartphone use in their family
As a Christian parent I don’t put my children on social media - this is why
Addicted, anxious and online: What every Christian parent needs to know about social media and wellbeing
Instant gratification online media tends to demean the beautiful things that are happening all around us. Instead of just consuming information we could be producing something that is happening. The fact that I did some laundry this morning is unlikely to get many retweets but it is no less valid than my speaking engagement or gig. If our information stream is constantly coming through social media, the cumulative effect of seeing all of that puts our sensors for what is beautiful and important totally out of whack. I wonder about the number of beautiful children’s questions, glances and dance moves that are missed because daddy is checking a cricket score or mummy is checking Instagram, looking at everyone else’s “beautiful moments” but missing their own.
We could produce something that is happening. And it will still have happened whether it makes it to social media or not. Its value is not dependent on others seeing it and valuing it. When most folks lived in villages you perhaps knew one or two people who were terminally ill. You understood suffering but you also had a proper sense of its scale. We are now bombarded with all the carnage of the world constantly. That is not good for our mental health. Our diet needs to change.
