
Study Finds One-Third Of Christian Parents Are ‘Media-Stressed’
By Movieguide® Contributor
A report from Guiding Children is detailing Christian parents’ struggles with media, from screen time to negative influences.
“Analysts call those who rank at least two media issues among their top three struggles related to their child’s faith formation ‘media-stressed parents,’” the report explained, adding that “media” includes “inappropriate internet searches, digital content such as YouTube and Netflix, video games and social media.”
Their study found that one-third of Christian parents qualify as media-stressed. The top three outside influences parents are worried about include peer influence, digital content and video games.
These worries make sense, especially when faced with statistics about the content available to children online.
Christian Headlines reported, “Less than 15 percent of the original content on America’s most popular streaming services is rated as family-friendly, according to a new study from the Parents Television and Media Council that also found that the number of ‘MA’ programs on all platforms far exceeds that of kid-friendly content.”
Guiding Children did report that some media influences are not cause for concern.
“Not all screen time should be cause for concern; media-engaged children are more likely than others to engage the Bible through some kind of digital technology, whether by app (37% weekly vs. 27% less engaged children), audio (27% weekly vs. 17%) or video (27% weekly vs. 21%),” the group wrote. “These data point to opportunities for greater biblical engagement among media-engaged kids and media-stressed parents.”
Social media is also a great concern to most parents. A recent Gallup survey found that “slightly more than half of U.S. teens spend at least four hours a day on social media and on average, all teens spend close to five.”
Movieguide® previously reported on the dangers of excessive social media use in young people:
Teenagers who spend more time on social media have increased depression, according to recent studies. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a study placing suicide as the second leading cause of death amongst individuals aged 10-34.
Social media is not the direct cause but rather the correlation between the spike in depression and its use. The basic human to human interaction has been lost on many levels through social media.
Cyberbullying effects 60% of all students. This leads to one in four girls self-harming, and one in ten boys doing the same.
Statistics are grim, but what is crucial to know is that depression caused by social media, can be lowered with moderation. If we actively lower our time spent on our phones, then we become proactive about combating these statistics.
We need to reprioritize the things in our lives. If reaching for a cell phone comes before reaching for your Bible, then readjust your schedule to reflect your priorities. Maybe your phone has too many notifications, and you get distracted when reading your Bible on a cell phone. Take the time out of your day to consider how you spend your time and where you find your joy. God should always be the center of our joy, so cell phones should slowly become a little farther down the list.