In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the recent decision made by the U.S. Surgeon General to release an official statement on the harm that is being done to teens through the use of social media. It is causing an alarming rise in mental health issues, with studies finding that excessive use of social media has been linked to cyberbullying, disrupted sleep cycles, reduced physical activity, body-image issues, an increase in self-harm, exposure to pornography, and increased rates of depression and anxiety. Sadly, many parents consider themselves helpless to do anything about it.
Episode Links
In his latest book Hybrid Church: Rethinking the Church for a Post-Christian Digital Age, Dr. White has an entire section on social media as it relates to the church, and how to think Christianly about it. Because it is clear that the church cannot remain silent about the harmful effects that social media has on our society. To help with this, Mecklenburg Community Church offers an on-demand class through the Meck Institute called “FaceTime: What Parents Need to Know About Technology, Social Media, Video Games and More.”
Along with that class that is designed to serve parents, Dr. White gave a series at Mecklenburg Community Church that stresses the importance of parents being informed, involved, and in charge. It's called “The Under-Protective Parent” and is available on Church & Culture HERE.
There are several stories that have been in the news of late related to this topic that were mentioned during today's conversation and that have been shared through the Daily Headline News on Church & Culture:
Matt Richtel, Catherine Pearson and Michael Levenson, “Surgeon General Warns That Social Media May Harm Children and Adolescents,” The New York Times, May 23, 2023.
Julie Jargon, “Why 16 Should Be the Minimum Age for Social Media,”
The Wall Street Journal, June 10, 2023.
Naomi Nix, “Meta Starts Task Force in Fight Against Child Pornography on Instagram,”
The Washington Post, June 7, 2023.
Ayana Archie, “Montana Becomes the First State to Ban TikTok,”
NPR, May 18, 2023.
Michaeleen Doucleff, “Major Psychologists' Group Warns of Social Media's Potential Harm to Kids,”
NPR, May 9, 2023.
Michaeleen Doucleff, “The Truth about Teens, Social Media and the Mental Health Crisis,”
NPR, April 25, 2023.
Peter Chappell, “One in five British children have a phone by age four,”
The Times UK, April 15, 2023.
Emily A. Vogels, Risa Gelles-Watnick and Navid Massarat, “Teens, Social Media and Technology 2022,”
Pew Research Center, August 10, 2022.
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