“In a world where screens dominate our lives, why are teens feeling more isolated than ever?”

(Nomophobia is the fear or anxiety of being without access to a working mobile phone. It can lead to feelings of panic or distress when individuals lose their phone, run out of battery, or find themselves in areas without cellular service.)

There is an intriguing article here entitled “The Loneliness Epidemic: Connected but Alone.” The article focuses on the detrimental effects of “screen time” whereby people, especially young people, are addicted to their phones, tablets and computers and are increasingly isolated from meaningful and necessary social contact.

“A silent crisis is sweeping across America, touching every generation from young children glued to tablets to retirees navigating shrinking social circles. Loneliness, once considered only a personal affliction, is now likened to a public health epidemic, exhibiting consequences as dire as smoking or obesity.”

Why is this a subject for an apologetics web site? Apologetics has a twofold ministry. One is to unbelievers, defending the faith. The other is to believers to help those struggling with doubt and facing an increasingly hostile world. While the apologists of the Second Century wrote to defend the faith against a hostile pagan culture, they also wrote to strengthen believers. While an important function of apologetics is to warn believers against false doctrine and teaching, it must also serve to alert the church to cultural sources of damage to the imago dei and the believer’s new identity in Christ (2 Cor 5:17).

I am not a luddite (someone who is resistant to new technology.) I use the latest technology to increase my effectiveness in the world . . . whether as an aerospace engineer, an aviation pilot, a commercial drone pilot, someone currently working for their Apologetics doctorate, using a reflective astronomical telescope, or creating this blog. But——the more powerful the technology is, the greater the required responsibility and potential for destructive consequences when misused.

Unfortunately, the church is not immune to this phenomenon. I encounter many Christian teenagers who fall prey to the seductive siren call of their electronic screens. Much (most?) of their interaction with the world is through the glowing, enticing phospor screen of an inanimate device. There are two problems with this:

1. First, they are living in what is primarily a fantasy world. Social media portrays that many (most?) are supposedly living the “good life”. Nothing is further from the truth.
2. Second, they are replacing God-given relationships with an artificial and superficial association that will curtail and can sometimes even destroy their ability to meaningfully relate to others. In Gen 2:18, God says that it is not good for man to be alone. Some of the loneliest people on the planet spend many hours each day in the digital world.

The emergence of and access to Artificial Intelligence (AI) is amping up the problem. I know adult Christians with advanced degrees who consult Siri like clockwork on their iPhone every time a question surfaces, further isolating themselves. While AI can be enormously useful, people that become dependent upon it, inevitably “dumb down.”

I know of adults whose occupation is “professional gamer.” Yes, these people competitively play video games. Some of them have no other source of income and literally play video games virtually the entire day. What a wasted life. Many, many people are enslaved to their screens. Scripture warns us not to be enslaved to anything (1 Cor 7:23). We are warned that we cannot serve two masters – “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other” (Matt 6:24). The allure of digital devices becomes more and more powerful each year with technological advances. But again——the more powerful something is——the greater the responsibility and the greater the destructive ruin as a consequence of misuse.

I see people in movie theaters checking their email and texts several times during the movie. While driving, I encounter people all the time who are immediately on their smartphone at stoplights. (Many locales have had to outlaw use of a smartphone while driving to curb the insanity.) I often witness people in a fast-food restaurant engage in a conversation on their phone while trying to order simultaneously (the height of rudeness.) I have often seen adult couples out for a meal, both of whom are immediately are on their phones after seating, instead of interacting with each other.

The fact is that very, very few children are mature enough to handle a smartphone. A smartphone in the hands of a child is a hand grenade awaiting the pin to be pulled. No child should ever have unsupervised access to a smartphone; disaster is inevitable. While a few teenagers are mature enough to have a smartphone, most are not. The teenage years are instrumental in the formation of values and ethics; the absolute worst place to construct one’s worldview is on social media. It is the teenage years where skills for social interaction are fashioned. Shaping social skills on social media is akin to learning to drive by participating in demolition derbies.

There is a reason that widespread transgender ideology surfaced in the 21st century and not earlier; it needed digital technology to efficiently spread its poison into the minds of the young and impressionable. A young person can be effectively isolated online from the rest of society (and the church) today via digital technology. Once that happens they are susceptible to all manner of deceit and delusion.

The conclusion? “Dr. Murthy puts it, “Human connection is as essential to our health as the air we breathe and the food we eat.” The stakes are high, but so is the potential for change. The loneliness epidemic has revealed the cracks in our social fabric, but has also shown us the path to repair: by reconnecting with one another, we can rebuild not only our communities but also our shared humanity.”

Candice Watters wisely encourages parents to offer their children “screen-Free summers” before tech was isolating everyone and “dissipating everyone’s attention.”