Phone Free Policies

Most parents seem to understand that social media has some real downsides for their offspring, but they struggle with what to do about the problem. Those who raise their Christian children with little to no access to smartphones and social media report positive results for their grades and their health, but these families are always going to be static in a world saturated with electronic devices and software applications.

A more realistic option U.S. Surgeon General Murthy advocates is for parents to band together with other families in their school, sports and social groups to agree to limits that all will follow. That way, no parent will have to feel the pressure of children who complain that none of their friends or classmates have such restrictions. If parents whose lives interact regularly can agree to shared rules and stick with them, there will be less friction regarding those rules. It is tough for Christian youth and their phones.

U.S. Surgeon General V. Murthy believes the dangers posed by social media to adolescents are so pronounced that extraordinary measures are needed to protect their developing brains. Murthy recommended that social media companies be required to add warning labels to their platforms, similar to the warnings that have long been mandated on cigarette boxes and chewing tobacco tins. Murthy says the search about the detrimental effect of social media on the mental health of teens is alarming enough to justify such a warning.

The warning labels would be intended to foster greater public awareness in the hopes that parents and teens would pay attention and adopt changes in how much time the young people spend with Facebook, TikTok, etc. Murthy doesn’t pretend that warning labels by themselves would be enough to deal with the crisis, just like tobacco product labels were only part of a larger strategy to reduce smoking. He continues to advocate for congressional action to “shield young people from online harassment, abuse and exploitation and from exposure to extreme violence and sexual content.”

Just as importantly, he says parents, teachers and others in society have a major role to play. He wants schools to adopt phone-free policies, and we want parents to set limits on social media usage and cell phones. Children should not have access to social platforms before middle school age, and their phone use should not be allowed around bedtime, meals and other gatherings. The addiction people, not just children, have to their smartphones and other electronic devices can cause sleep deprivation and a lessened ability to interact with people face-to-face.

“In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee” (Isa. 26:1-3).

We Christians must train our youth to be righteous people.