Today, we’re talking about love. But by “love,” I don’t mean getting a date with your crush. I mean the way you’re in love with your phone . . . and tablet, and TV, and laptop, and anything else in your house with a screen.
“Wait a minute,” you may be thinking. “I love my mom and my brother and my friends—not my phone!” But on an average day, I’m guessing you spend more time with your phone than with anyone else.
- How much time do you think teenagers spend with devices in one day? When I say “devices,” I actually mean any kind of electronic media—phones, TVs, computers, and even car radios. (Encourage your teens to take a guess.)
According to a recent study, American teens spend an average of 8 ½ hours per days using screens for entertainment such as gaming, texting, or social media. Those hours per day do not include screen time at school or for doing homework.
- Do you think you spent eight and a half hours a day with media in the past week? (Many teens will probably think that number is high but remind them of times when they may have been partially engaged with media. For example, perhaps they were sitting in a room with the TV on.)
Eight and a half hours a day is a lot! That’s about as much time as you spend sleeping and more time than you spend in school. Even if you didn’t hit quite that many hours, I’ll bet you spent many hours staring at a screen in the past week. In the past year, the amount of screen time for educational purposes has also increased. Many of you may probably use computers or tablets both at school and for homework.
- Now, here’s a follow-up question: What are some other things you love (besides technology and media), and how much time do you spend with them each day? (You can be the first to share your answers to get things started. Some students may mention a sport or hobby, or give names of people.)
There’s an old saying that love is spelled T-I-M-E. We aren’t going on a guilt trip this morning, but we are going to talk about taking more time for one of the super-important things in our lives—the Bible. In today’s lesson, we’re going to look specifically at why spending time in God’s Word is so important.
