The Noise and Lure of Screens

We're shepherding a generation that wants rest from the noise

Technology and screen time are no new topic, especially for those within the field of youth ministry. Several months ago, though, I did come across some new statistics that made me think about how we’re shepherding our youth. DCDX’s 2023 Gen Z Screen Time Report (which is available for free, but you’ll have to give them your e-mail to see the full report) analyzed the iPhone screen time reports sent in by Gen Z'ers. Many of the findings are divided by age (15-20 year-olds vs. 21-27 year-olds) and gender, making the insights more useful to those within youth ministry.

A few highlights:

• Gen Z girls spent almost double the amount of time on TikTok as the Gen Z guys

• 15-20 year-olds spent nearly double the time on TikTok as the 21-27 year-olds

• Girls spent around 2 hours more per day on their phones than the guys

• Girls had less pickups per day, though, meaning that girls used their phones for longer periods of time each time they picked it up

• The average notifications per day for Gen Z was 221

As someone who cares for youth, I walked away with a number of thoughts.

First, perhaps I’m an oddball because I’ve disabled many notifications on my phone, but I can’t imagine getting that many notifications per day. It feels like too much. Add that to the average amount of screen time for Gen Z, and I get a picture that these young people have a lot of noise in their lives. It’s like they are living their entire lives in an environment similar to Times Square with lots of busyness, movement, screens, sounds, and stimulation. I imagine the toll that would take on someone’s body and mind and heart over time.

Photo by James Ting on Unsplash

To someone living in a constantly noisy environment like that, I would want to offer an invitation similar to Jesus’s invitation to his disciples in Mark 6:31, along the lines of: “Come away to a quiet, less distracting place for awhile and rest. You’ve been busy and bombarded with noise and stimulation. You’re not meant to keep going like this. You need rest. So come, take a break and rest with Jesus for awhile. And then you can re-enter life with new rhythms and a new relationship with all the noise.”

Maybe you think Gen Z wouldn’t like this. But here’s another interesting insight from the report: they also asked Gen Z, “If you could change social media, what would you do?” Nearly half said they would make it easier to disconnect from.

In other words, they are literally asking for help quieting this noise. I look at this and think, “Ah! They want to get there, but they don’t know how.” Let’s hear their cries for help and help them find strategies to lessen the noise. Talk with them about how to disable notifications, and help them think through which notifications would be wise to disable. Encourage them to take a digital detox or remove certain apps from their phones. Suggest regular digital sabbaths or breaks, such as putting their phone into Do Not Disturb mode during certain hours or even putting their phone away one day per week. Talk with them about whether the phone is the first thing they touch in the morning or the last thing they look at before they go to bed — and why that matters, and how they might consider changing those habits.

Shepherds notice what’s going on with their sheep and work proactively to care for them. So, notice the digital noise in student’s lives. Notice how girls are particularly susceptible to the lure of screens. Then, help them rest with Jesus, and come back with a new relationship with their phones, and perhaps changed settings on their phones.

As a tangent, I’d also point out that this report might properly make us ask questions about how our youth ministries use social media. For instance, how often are our youth ministries posting on social media, and to what extent are we adding to the noise? Also, should the insight that girls are more likely to see our social media posts and that they are more affected by social media influence the way we use it? I’m not sure I have conclusions about either of those questions, but I think they’re questions worth asking.