By Steven D. Minor
As a boy growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s, I had only one place to go where I knew I could find real answers to life’s questions: my home. When I needed to know about why something happened or how something worked, I would go into the kitchen or my mom’s craft room in the garage where she was usually working on something and ask her. If I needed to sit and really talk things out as a young man, I would walk across the parking lot to my dad’s office. He never minded that I interrupted his studies. He always had time to talk about life, God, nature, the Bible, goals, relationships, or problems I was having at the time.
Where do a lot of youth go now for advice, counsel, instruction or help? The Internet. It has, within just a few short years, become the other parent. The younger generation (under 25 years old) is highly dependent on the Internet as a major part of their lives. As a matter of fact, most of our youth would be lost without it!
Here’s what one poll reveals.
Four out of five under-25s feel “lost” without the Internet, a survey has found. The opinion poll of 1,000 adults by the Science Museum shows how a generation that has grown up with the Web has become dependent upon it. By contrast, just three out of five people over the age of 25 said that they would feel “lost” without the Internet. One in three adults surveyed would choose the Internet over television, with 60 percent of people surveyed describing the Internet as one of the most important inventions of the twentieth century. Half of the women surveyed also use the Web to self-diagnose illnesses, with 60 percent of under-25s using the Internet for the same purpose.”i
Understand that I am not saying the Internet is all evil. There are many good sites to gain information, resources, understanding, help, and entertainment. But when the Internet/technology replaces the communication, nurture, blessing, help, and encouragement that only a dad or mom can give, we need to take a second look!
We in America are not the only ones paying the price for the Internet explosion from the past 15 years. Consider this article from the Beijing Review:
Helping young people fight their obsession with the Internet is the job of Liu Min, a psychological counselor for teenage Internet addicts at the Hongkai Education and Training School in Jinan, east China’s Shandong Province. One of the teenagers that Liu has counseled is a 16-year-old boy…whose addiction to the Internet forced him to drop out of school. His parents sent him to the school to get treated for his addiction after he ran away from home several times. As more and more young people have access to the Internet, many are becoming hooked. Among China’s urban youth aged 6 to 29, 14.1 percent, or 24.04 million, were addicted to the Internet, according to a report released by the China Youth Association for Network Development, a non-profit organization, in February 2010.
It goes on to report that some 33.29 million total youth (rural and urban) from China are addicted to the Internet.i
It’s not just that our young people are going to the Internet to learn things; it’s also their primary place to “hang out.” They play, shop, chat, do homework, and entertain themselves there. It’s not just something else they do; the Internet is a part of who they are. With many teens and young adults getting smartphones, it means they are connected 24/7. They can surf and download any time of any day. That’s why many youth suffer from withdrawal symptoms when they can’t connect. All of this high-tech connection has many parent/child relationships strained. There is less conversation, less listening and sharing of thoughts and emotions, when youth are connected so much.
The scary part of all of this is that too many youth are going online to find answers to their “big” questions––questions about sex, homosexuality, God, Satan, suffering, creation, suicide, and other life issues. The Pew Internet Project revealed that in 2009 17% of the youth they surveyed used the Internet to answer hard questions about sexual health, drug use and depression.ii Imagine what that number is up to now!
The Internet can be a great thing! It’s just like fire. It must be used with discipline and control! It can do great things within boundaries, and yet it can harm and even kill if left unattended! When God tells us to “train up a child in the way he should go…” (Proverbs 22:6), He must be telling us to diligently instruct them and show them how to honor Him in all things. This means setting strict boundaries on all Internet usage so we do not allow them to become addicted to it and hurt by it. This avenue of media and information must be kept at a respectful distance so it does not become a foster parent that your child does not need!
