Amazing Generation, Part One: Why Churches Should Create Phone-Free Youth Spaces

GUEST WRITER: FRANCES WATTMAN ROSENAU

Social Media Isn’t What It Used to Be

Nine years ago, I used to chuckle to myself when people turned their noses up at social media. I thought, “Bless their hearts! Clearly, they don’t understand how great it is to be connected. I personally didn’t over-share or spend my whole life online. What was the big deal?”

2017 was a simpler time: a time before algorithms deeply entrenched us in our political camps, before ads made up the majority of content consumed, before our brain chemistry was leveraged to keep us from looking away. Social media is no longer simply a way to stay connected. Social media has become a new form of addiction. The conveniences I used to like about social media are now what I want breaks from the most.  

Awareness of my own dissatisfaction with the online world dawned gradually. However, my awareness of the impact on young people came in a flash when I read Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation. I think most people suspected it probably wasn’t good for kids to be on phones all day. But, is it really that important? They’re just talking to their friends, right? Technology is the way of our world now.

What Research Says About Phones and Young People

Turns out tech use is a big deal, especially for kids and teens. 

As Jonathan Haidt puts it: “We’ve been overprotective with our children in-person and underprotective of them online.” (The Amazing Generation, 9) Research has emerged that focuses on how technology rewires teenage brains and leads to adverse mental health outcomes. 

“Children want to meet up in person, no screens or supervision. But because so many parents restrict their ability to socialize in the real world on their own, kids resort to the one thing that allows them to hang out with no adults hovering: their phones,” Haidt observes.

I assumed the main threat to kids was online predators. Predators are getting to kids easily and often. But even just being online to interact with friends and using social media changes “children’s mood, sleep, self-esteem, and friendships; and clinicians say social media is exacerbating anxiety, depression, and addiction-like behavior.” (The Case Against Social Media)

What Does This Mean for Youth Ministry?

After reading The Anxious Generation and other research, my imagination began spinning, particularly around the children and youth in our church. I started from a place of curiosity. When students gather in a youth space, why would they isolate themselves on their phones? Were they forced to be here? Are they uncomfortable? Are they bored? Do they feel unwelcome? What if we viewed a student isolating in the corner on their phone not as someone breaking the rules, but as a breakdown in community? 

If this is a breakdown in community, where and how can congregations respond? Since children and students want more in-person experiences and deserve more tech-free spaces—any tech-free space—why not give them the gift of creating space for a phone-free youth group?

A Phone-Free Youth Group Is About Belonging

It’s important to understand that a phone-free space is not the product of strictness or a rules-focused orientation. Nor is the point to be antiquarian, out of touch, or tech-averse, but instead to offer a respite for our souls. The decision is a gift and a commitment to ensure everyone belongs in real time. 

Christian life is often counter-cultural. Jesus modeled this. Instead of co-signing the idea that an online life is just the way things are now, churches can offer young people something they hardly get anywhere else: a space to be themselves and to belong without technology. 

It is important to note that tech-free spaces focus on what students are missing out on, not necessarily on what they do on their devices (although that can be a problem). Phones are experience blockers and keep users from interacting with others in real time. If youth always have half their attention on what is buzzing in their pocket or waiting for someone to reply to a message, then they miss the person in the same room who is trying to connect with them. 

A Bible study, a guided prayer, or even a get-to-know-you game just can not compete with the entire internet relentlessly tearing their attention away from the moment. Additionally, how can a student share a vulnerable prayer request if she’s wondering who is filming, recording, or texting about her behind her back? At church, we can intentionally craft a time for deep relationships where they don’t have to compete with addictive apps for their peers’ attention. 

Continue Reading

You may be thinking, “What a great idea. But how do we get families and leaders on board with making such a cultural shift? Where do we begin?”

Great question! In Part 2, we will explore how tech-free spaces may benefit more than just the youth in our churches, and how to incorporate these policies church-wide.

Frances Wattman Rosenau

Guest Contributor

Pastor Frances Wattman Rosenau is the Pastor of Culver City Presbyterian Church in the Los Angeles area. Pastor Rosenau’s doctoral (DMin) studies focused on multicultural and multiethnic worship. She has a passion for community organizing and has lived in India, Scotland, Upstate New York, Paris, Chicago, and Tulsa. She is currently Vice-Moderator of the Presbytery of the Pacific and on the board of NEXT Church. When she’s not at church, you will find her training for a race, learning to score baseball with her boys, or searching for her husband in a used bookstore. Follow her newsletter at almostnamedgrace.substack.com