Media Alert!

August 2023

BLOG #46

Sue Summers

MediaSavvyKids.org

“Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”  Romans 12: 2 (The Message)

“Recalculating!”

How many of us in the past have heard that statement as we were attempting to drive to a location using our GPS device? As GPS (Global Positioning System) devices are now available nearly everywhere to nearly everyone, people have learned to enjoy the convenience of electronic instructions to lead them to their destinations. When an error is made, such as a missed turn, we know we can rely on our device to “recalculate” and send us a newly formulated set of directions. People tend to depend on these navigation recommendations rather than personal knowledge or maps. Often, we just suspend our pre-existing knowledge of locations and directions, following the electronic information even when it leads us to the wrong place.

“‘The scary thing is that people don’t even realize they have become so reliant,’ Borrie [a wilderness researcher at the University of Montana, Missoula] said. ‘Anything that takes you away from paying attention to nature and instead has you paying attention to a gadget is going to get in the way of you seeing, noticing and learning from nature. You wonder how people can stop thinking, but they do.’”

“In just about every case, people fail to crosscheck with maps or ask directions. Instead, they turn where the GPS tells them to turn. And they only realize their mistake when it’s too late.”

“Part of the problem stretches back to the earliest days of the scientific revolution, when people transferred their sense of faith from the church to science and technology, said David Stearns, a historian of technology and part-time lecturer at Seattle Pacific University. Since World War II, he added, Americans have begun to entrust technology with the ability to save us and solve all of our problems.” (https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/gps-devices-trust-technology-gut/story?id=13649926)

The habit of consulting cell phones for information by using Google or Siri, leads us farther away from reliance on our own thinking, because we assume that technology provides more accurate information.

This assumption isn’t limited to just driving directions, but to information in general, and particularly to our daily information from the media. Our individual thinking is less prized, and we choose instead to fill our conversations with repetitions of what has been seen, heard, or read. The electronic media saturate our daily consciousness, leaving us with less time, and reducing the need for print media, such as books, newspapers, and magazines. Newspaper and magazine circulation numbers are dropping fast, so libraries and bookstores have started adding non-book offerings to bring in customers. Some are simply opting for electronic versions only.

“The e-commerce giant confirmed Wednesday that it is closing 68 retail locations, including all of its Amazon Books stores, as part of a broader shift in its bricks-and-mortar retail strategy.” (“Amazon is closing all of its physical bookstores”, March 2, 2022, http://www.cnn.com)

And what about Christian bookstores?

“In 2013, Christian book retailer, Cokesbury Bookstores, closed all 38 retail stores. In 2017, Family Christian Resources shut down all 240 locations, in the midst of mounting debt and bankruptcy. Then, this year, LifeWay Christian Resources, the largest Christian retail chain in America, announced that it would be closing all of its 170 stores this year.” (“The Christian Bookstore Chain Is Dead. What Comes Next?”, podcast, March 27, 2019, http://www.christianitytoday.com)

As a nation, we now rely more on electronic media than print sources.

“The transition of news from print, television and radio to digital spaces has caused huge disruptions in the traditional news industry, especially the print news industry. It is also reflected in the ways individual Americans say they are getting their news. A large majority of Americans get news at least sometimes from digital devices, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted Aug. 31-Sept. 7, 2020.”(“More than eight-in-ten Americans get news from digital devices”, January 12, 2021, http://www.pewresearch.org)

What difference does it make? As information pours over us from a variety of sources each day, it is more necessary than ever to develop a “hierarchy of believability”. We cannot treat all messages as equally authentic or factual. For example, social media offers thousands of ideas and opinions every day that may – or may not – be accurate. Is a message delivered on Snapchat as reliable as one on NBC Nightly News?

“Where did we get that information?” and “How trustworthy is that source?” are important questions to ask before we incorporate messages into our understanding of the world around us.

Occasionally we may all may get “off track”. When we put Christ at the center of our lives, our focus on any fallible, earthly Global Positioning System shifts toward something greater – a relationship with our Creator, God Himself! His GPS is more like a “Spiritual Global Positioning System” that can redirect our path.

A firm foundation in the “Grid of Truth” – God’s Word – may be reason enough for some “recalculating” of cultural priorities and perspectives.

So how can we help teens become media-savvy about the culture that surrounds them?

Our lives are filled with media messages! Teens need guidance to navigate through the culture’s diversions and distractions to determine what is truly important. To provide that guidance is the role of significant adults in their lives: parents, grandparents, teachers, Sunday School teachers, youth pastors, mentors, coaches, and wise caring friends. Here are some discussion starters to begin getting our young people to think, rather than thoughtlessly regurgitating what they see, hear, or read.

• Discuss social media and their daily reliance on various sites. Ask, “Which social media sources do you consider to be accurate? What makes you think they are?” Discuss their answers.

• Ask, “How do you know what you know?” Share, “We are all storehouses of information, but perhaps not all of what we believe to be factual is accurate. What are some methods we can use to decide that what we see, hear, or read is trustworthy?” Discuss.

• Ask, “Are there ways to substantiate which information we need to know?” Share, “Not every piece of information needs to be fact-checked, of course. Some are unimportant to our thinking or plans. However, when there is a message or a report that might determine next steps or how you will make decisions, it should be verified.” Discuss.

• Ask, “Have you noticed that conversations often seem to be merely repeats of headlines or current information, rather than individual critical thinking? Why do you think you or your friends, or even your parents or teachers, may tend to do that?” Discuss.

• Ask, “When you make personal decisions or choices, do you depend on the Bible as your ‘Grid of Truth’? If so, what is the reason for your confidence?” Discuss the Bible and its dependability.

• Share, “As we go through life, we need to determine what and who to believe. Let’s make a list of information sources and prioritize them by their trustworthiness.”

• Share, “Sometimes it requires some mental ‘recalculating’ to make changes as we recognize that the world’s ways are not God’s ways.”

• Share, “Let’s talk about this scripture: Psalm 119:89-90 in The Message. What evidence do you see that this is true?”

“Your word, Lord, is eternal;
                   it stands firm in the heavens.

Your faithfulness continues through all generations;
         you established the earth, and it endures.”

Note: Share this blog with your church’s youth pastor as a lesson for youth group gatherings.

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Sue Summers is a Christian media analyst, teacher, author, and speaker.

She is the Director of Media Alert!

Contact Info:

Blogs: MediaSavvyKids.org

Website: http://www.MediaAlert.org

Email: Sue@MediaAlert.org

#MediaSavvyKids, #ChristianParenting, #ChurchAndCulture, #YouthPastors, #YouthGroupCurriculum, #HelpForChristianParents, #TeensAndCulture, #AChangingCulture, #CriticalThinkingAndTeens, #IAmNotDefinedByTheCulture, #Recalculating, #NavigatingThroughTheCulturesDiversionsAndDistractions, #TheMediaAndTheirInfluenceOnTeens

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