Wake Up, Look Up

Hello everyone, thanks for listening to Wake Up, Look Up, a podcast where we connect events happening in real time to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Zach Weihrauch, and in today's episode, we're talking about phones in school and we're asking the question, who really rules the classroom? Now, this is prompted by an article I read in the Atlantic, and it's a topic we've talked about before. But the truth is, more and more data is coming out to suggest that overwhelmingly it is true that when schools prohibit phones and other electronic devices, children when listen, smartphones are diverting students attention away from learning, replacing face to face engagement with digital communication. It's leading to more distraction, it's leading to shorter attention spans. And states are beginning to notice. 31 states and the District of Columbia right now will require school phone limits, meaning they're placing limitations on the access that kids have to their students. Uh, following the example of countries like Australia where they've banned them completely and seen market improvement in test scores, focus, bullying and general behavior. Gee, I don't know, that sounds pretty convincing. Alongside of these pretty clear indicators that the absence of phones leads to the presence of greater education. Uh, experts are warning that overstimulation, the more time teenagers in particular spend on screens, leads to increased anxiety, increased depression, retreating inwardly. So basically it boils down to this. If you think that bullying doesn't matter, test scores don't matter, attention doesn't matter, behavior doesn't matter, and you'd like for your teenager to be more depressed and more anxious for eight hours a day, then by all means send them to school with their cell phone. But if you don't want any of those things, you might want to write a letter to your kid school asking them why, in the face of so much overwhelming evidence, they aren't telling kids to leave their phones at home. Now, educators will say that the pushback they get back from parents is the safety concern that if anything were to happen to their child at the school, they want the ability to call them and listen. Uh, I get that, particularly in an era of school shootings. But we're not finding that when a terrible event happens that a kid having a cell phone actually leads to any increased safety. In fact, quite the opposite can be true, as, ah, cell phone locations are used by all kinds of evil people. In other words, it doesn't create actual safety, it creates the feeling of safety. But even if you had to, you could argue that kids can bring their phones and keep them in the lockers. Or if they're teenagers in their cars, in the parking lot, but not in the school. Listen, uh, this is something I think evangelical Christians should support, banning phones in schools, and not just because of overwhelming data. Let me offer some biblical support. Listen, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14 that all things need to be done order in an orderly fashion. Actually, he's talking about education now. He's talking about education in the church. He's talking about the corporate gathering of the church. But he's simply making the point that if we want people to grow in their understanding, distraction is our enemy. And if anydy who spent any time around a teenager who has a smartphone knows if the phone is in their hand, you're not being heard. And that's true. As true for your algebra teacher as it is for your dad. Here's another thing though. The Bible makes pretty clear in Ephesians 6 that the call of children is to obey their parents. Listen, we all know that teenagers will be mad if we tell them they can't bring their phones. But since when has teenagers temper tantrum been what drives the policy of educators or of parents? My goodness, think of all the places that that would take us. Listen, when your toddler throws a t tantrum and the Isle of Target, you don't placate them by buying them the toy they're freaking out about. And when your 16 year old tells you it's the end of the world if they can't have their phone in school, you don't solve that by giving them their phone. Because what countries like Australia are telling us is they might rage on the front end, but boy will they come alive on the back end. And he's. The other thing is that part of it is our kids have become so dependent on their phones that to take them away will lead to a little suffering. But Paul tusszles in Romans that suffering produces endurance. That's Romans 5. It, uh, produces character. Perhaps they need to go through a little withdrawal in order to become the thinking, creating world shaping people that God designed them to be. Not to mention the fact that human health, at least from a biblical perspective, is based in almost exclusively on connection to God and connection to each other. Both of which are harmed if you spend your life on your smartphone. Listen, we need to teach students to cultivate a little stillness. A little stillness spiritually. A little stillness in ability to pay attention. A little stillness and the ability to receive instruction from their educators is s why God says in Psalm 46, Be still and know that I am God. He knows that a busy, hurried, distracted person won't even listen to him. Listen, parents, we get involved in a lot of things. Why aren't we taking this step of writing to our public school private school, asking for a meeting with an educator and saying, it seems to me that the evidence points to the fact that this school would be a lot more productive, a lot safer, and a lot healthier if we told children to trust us and leave their phones at home. Listen, if you haven't thought about this, start. If you haven't gotten involved on this, start because our kids need us to do what's best for them, even if they don't like it. Hey, thanks for watching this episode of Wake Up, Look Up. If you enjoyed it, please help us get the word out by sharing it with someone you think might benefit from it. And while you're here, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get further content or even download the CCC app, where you'll find even more resources to help you grow in your faith and relationship with Jesus Christ.

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