Digital Dangers

Here I am, on my laptop, using the Internet, to tell you about digital dangers. Yes, I see the irony in that. :-) Today on the radio, Focus on the Family's daily broadcast had a panel of experts who were sharing findings from a variety of research that points to the increasingly noticeable issues being discovered in young people from the over-use of technology, smart phones, video games, etc. And they've even given a name to this new condition: "Digital Dementia." I don't know about you, but it's rather alarming that children are being "diagnosed" with a condition that is typically associated with senior citizens.

Check out this article from some research that's been conducted in South Korea (an area in the world especially connected to all things technology-related).

The Focus on the Family broadcast and the article are well worth the time to listen and read. If you have young children especially, please consider how much your children live a "virtual" life versus interacting with the world around them. Did you know the use of technology (especially at early ages) actually effects how children's brains develop? That's alarming to me. My husband, a software developer, discourages the use of technology in young children. Instead of downloading a coloring book app, just use a REAL coloring book and crayons. Revolutionary thinking, huh?

So, bottom line, examining your child's use of technology is something that needs to occur on a regular basis. Technology is not going away. The Internet is not going to get "friendlier" over time. Parents, your only option is to be aware.

Time to Diet?

If we look at Daniel's life as described in Daniel 1 in the Bible, we see a devout young man who has decided that the "king's delicacies" (food and wine) were not something with which he should defile himself. Instead, he asked for a diet of vegetables and water! I was pondering this and that led me to think about the "diet" of those of us in the Church. Now, I'm not talking about the food diet (though that could probably be addressed considering our love of potlucks!)  :-)  What I'm talking about is our "brain diet"...what things are we consuming, via our eyes and ears, that affect our thoughts, our spirit?

All  you have to do is Google something like "the effect of music on our brain", and you'll find myriad studies and articles that show brain scans and charts and graphs...all pointing to the fact that you are indeed affected by what you hear. Do a search for the effect of what you watch, and you'll find similar results. The bottom line is that we ARE influenced by things like television shows, music, YouTube videos, video games, the Internet, etc. etc. etc.!

Back to the diet analogy...what is it that you're habitually feeding on? What about your kids? The Psalmist in Psalm 101:3 says, "I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar." How much vileness and vulgarity is acceptable in the media we consume? How does a constant diet of vile and vulgar things affect our relationship with the Lord? I've often shared with young people that anything we allow to infiltrate our sight and our hearing should pass the "Philippians Filter" found in Philippians 4:8:

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." (emphasis mine)

Notice those last four words, "think about such things." What you're consuming will affect what you're thinking about. The more true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy things are, the better our thoughts will be. This won't just happen with a snap of the fingers...it has to be something we are committed to. Look at Daniel again, "But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank."  He RESOLVED. Other translations say "he determined", "he made up his mind", "he purposed in his heart". He was intentional in making the Lord his aim. For him, there was no other option.

So, how's your diet?