Wake Up, Look Up

[Music]

hello everybody thanks for listening to

wake up lookup a podcast where we

connect events happening in real time to

the Gospel of Jesus Christ I'm Zach

wrock and in today's episode we're

asking the question whose phone is the

real problem and I'm just going to tell

you if you're a parent you're going to

hate this episode and the way I know

that is I hated getting ready for it

that's because the answer to the

question whose phone is the real problem

is its ours uh studies are coming out I

read about it this week in the news now

that smartphones have been out for a

while that are showing the damaging

effects that something called continuous

partial attention has on children and

continuous partial attention is the idea

that parents are kind of always around

but never fully paying attention that's

because we have our phones as a constant

distraction and you might think well is

it really a big deal the answer actually

is yes uh what they found is that

continuous partial attention results in

five unhelpful consequences for children

let me lay those out for you number one

it results in a stunting of a child's

educational development that's because

conversation is a major way that kids

learn in fact a child whose parent is

continuously distracted Ed uh is about

two times behind a child whose parent is

attentive meaning the child in the

attentive parent category knows two

times the amount of words by the time

they're two two times that's what your

phone is doing that's what my phone is

doing it also is a problem number two

with emotional Attunement if you've been

to therapy or know anything about mental

and emotional health you know that one

of the primary things children need from

their parents is something called

Attunement think about it as a kind of

emotional radar children need for a

parent to know when they're upset when

they're happy when they're sad when

they're scared and to respond

accordingly well the more distracted you

are the less attune you are that leads

to number three because not only do you

miss the signal but you actually misread

it as a consequence you take a child

who's sad and treat them as a child

who's lazy because you just want to get

back to your phone so you snap at them

and get them out of the way because you

see them as is really more of a nuisance

than a child who needs your care in fact

they have found that number four

everywhere smartphone usage goes up so

also does the number of injuries among

children distracted adults lead to

children being physically injured and

then finally number five it leads to

something uh emotional and Mental Health

Specialists are calling techno fence

that between a child and their parent

kind of constantly is the presence of

technology which is shaping our children

listen 10 years 20 years from now

therapy rooms are going to be full of

kids who are there because they can't

figure out why their parents love their

phones more than them and can we just be

honest enough to say there are none of

us who don't feel the sting of that last

sentence we all have a long way to go

and listen I just want to remind you

that your children are a gift from God

that God has given them to you to

Steward to discipleship to develop that

Deuteronomy 6 that God wants you to burn

the the stories of his faithfulness into

their brains and into their hearts that

he wants you to love and care and

provide for them and that that window is

closing every day is another day closer

to them being out of the house and do

you really think do I think we're going

to long for the days that our kids were

in the other room and we were on our

phones no we're going to go wish we

could go back and trade every one of

those seconds for Meaningful interaction

when you come home from work put your

phone on in a box and take the box put

it under the sink let your kids know

you're putting it away because they

matter more than that no matter what

email is coming no matter what phone

call is coming they matter more listen

that message means something to them I

don't care how old they are they are

picking up on what you are saying about

your phone and them I know you say I'll

just have it close I won't look at it

but you will and so will I so let's as

Christian parents Take the Lead say no

to phone usage at home as much as is

humanly possible play a game read a book

go for a walk be a parent remember the

Bible says in Galatians 6 do not be

deceived God is Not mocked you reap what

you sow so meaningful relationship with

your kids I promise you won't be

disappointed in what you read hey thanks

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