Screens and Teens: Connecting with Our Kids in a Wireless World - Softcover

Koch, Kathy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802412696 ISBN 13: 9780802412690

Verlag: MOODY PUBL, 2015

Inhaltsangabe

If you feel like you’re losing your teen to technology, you’re not alone.

Screen time is rapidly replacing family time, and for teens especially, it is hardwiring the way they connect with their world. 

In Screens and Teens, Dr. Kathy helps you make sense of all this and empowers you to respond. She:

• Exposes the lies that technology can teach your teen
• Guides you in countering those lies with biblical truths and helpful practices
• Shares success stories of families who have cut back on technology and prioritized each other

Kathy’s research, experience, and relatability all come together for an inspiring book, sure to help you be closer with your kids.

"Dr. Kathy continues to inform and inspire me with Screens and Teens. I feel better equipped to parent my kids in our constantly changing world because of her wisdom. Dr. Kathy’s expertise makes her my "go-to" person when I have questions about technology and the way it affects our family. Whether you have kids or not, this book will make you more aware of the tech-driven world we live in and encourage you to make bold, smart choices." -Kirk Cameron, Actor/Producer

Grab a pen and get ready to underline, circle, and write "That’s so us!" in the margins. Be equipped to keep your family connected.

BONUS: Every book includes an access code to stream or download a powerful 9-session video series (valued at $20) for FREE! In these videos, Dr. Kathy presents eye-opening insights to help you connect with your teen in a whole new way. Designed to be watched prior to reading each chapter, they will help you to engage the book on a deeper level.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

DR. KATHY KOCH ("cook"), is the founder of Celebrate Kids, Inc., based in Fort Worth, Texas, and Ignite the Family, their conference ministry. She has influenced thousands of parents, teachers, and children in thirty countries through keynote messages, seminars, chapels, banquet talks, and other events. She is a regular speaker for Care Net, Summit Ministries, the Colson Center, and Teach Them Diligently. She is also a popular guest on Focus on the Family radio, she was featured in Kirk Cameron's movie, Connect, and she has published five books with Moody Publishers.

Von der hinteren Coverseite

If you feel like you’re losing your teen to technology, you’re not alone.

Screen time is rapidly replacing family time, and for teens especially, it is hardwiring the way they connect with their world. 

In Screens and Teens, Dr. Kathy helps you make sense of all this and empowers you to respond. She exposes the lies that technology can teach your teen, guides you in countering them with biblical truths and helpful practices, and shares success stories of families who have cut back on technology and prioritized each other. Kathy’s research, experience, and relatability all come together for an inspiring book, sure to help you be closer with your kids.  

Grab a pen and get ready to underline, circle, and write "That’s so us!" in the margins. Be equipped to keep your family connected. 

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Screens and Teens

Connecting With Our Kids In A Wireless World

By Kathy Koch, Annette LaPlaca

Moody Publishers

Copyright © 2015 Kathy Koch
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-8024-1269-0

Contents

Foreword by Jill Savage, 9, 
1. Technology and Our Deepest Human Needs, 11, 
2. Truths about Today's Teens, 31, 
3. Less and More, 57, 
4. Lie #1:1 Am the Center of My Own Universe, 83, 
5. Lie #2:1 Deserve to Be Happy All the Time, 103, 
6. Lie #3:1 Must Have Choices, 137, 
7. Lie #4:1 Am My Own Authority, 163, 
8. Lie #5: Information Is All I Need So I Don't Need Teachers, 181, 
9. The Ultimate Connectivity, 201, 
Discussion Guide, 225, 
Notes, 239, 
Acknowledgments, 247, 
About Celebrate Kids, Inc., 250, 
About Hearts at Home, 251, 

CHAPTER 1

TECHNOLOGY AND OUR DEEPEST HUMAN NEEDS

Most teens today have seen electric typewriters only in the movies (old movies or retro movies set in old times), and they may never have seen a manual typewriter. But I'm old enough to remember my family's first typewriters, manual and electric. That big, heavy, gray-and-white piece of technology was a sleek and shiny gift. I loved the changes it brought! Fast typing, with just a light tap on the keys. Tapping a return key instead of lugging across a heavy carriage. Adjusting to that piece of technology was, oh, so worth it!

We've come a long way, haven't we? Now we carry tiny computers in our pockets and purses. We add and delete and access a world of information with just a click or two. The changes—from electric typewriters to today's slim and efficient technological tools—have been continuous. It's the speed of changes that takes my breath away! Change happens now faster than it ever has before.

Is the speed of change influencing our kids? Could that be one of the reasons they're quickly dissatisfied with doing things the same old way? Is this why they want to line up at a store at midnight when a new game, movie, or device hits the market? Is it why they insist we get them the latest and greatest phone or other device even though theirs works just fine?

Our world changes, almost daily, with the changes in technology. And that's innocent, right? It seems as innocent as leaving behind Wite-out to correct typing errors in favor of the laptop's delete key! But are those changes having an impact on our children's behavior and beliefs—and on our own? Yes! In both negative and positive ways, technology with its rapid-fire advances is definitely shaping the personality and character and life path of young people.

Teens have always experienced peer pressure, but keeping up has reached intense levels of pressure for today's teens, who definitely feel a sense of urgency, as if they're going to be left out unless they have the best, the newest, the fastest, and the easiest. There's pressure to be the happiest, the most beautiful, the most talented. Do you hear any of these sentiments or see any of these attitudes in your home?

"My picture got more Tikes' last night than anybody else's. I knew it would."

"I'm not being rude. I'm multitasking, and I'm good at it."

"They can't expect me to use that. It's so slow! I've got to buy what Alicia has."

"That is way too hard. Is there an app to make it easier?"

"My parents are making such a big deal out of everything! All I'm doing is texting!"

"This stuff they're making us read is so ridiculous! That book is so old!"

If you haven't heard statements like these in your home yet, give it a minute. You probably will! These attitudes surface repeatedly in our technology-driven world. Listen and watch to see who your teens' "Joneses" may be—those other teens they want so much to keep up with—and consider how much pressure your kids are putting on themselves. While you're at it, pay attention to the pressure influencing you, too.

Our kids live in a world of screens. They have

• Digital/Smart Devices

• Internet/World Wide Web

• Social Networking

• Games, and

• TV/Movies/Radio/Streaming Services

This book isn't really about technology. But it is about how technology influences the beliefs and behaviors of teens and how parents can connect with their children to influence them positively. Parents and teens are both affected by the influences of our screen-saturated lives, but young people experience the effects with ferocious intensity.

I see the signs of screen-world stress in myself—and I'm middle-aged. Perhaps I notice it most in my own impatience (Why did that light just turn red?!) or in my desire to win every game of solitaire I play (I admit it!). I can get annoyed if I forget to program my DVR. I'm grateful for all the music I can choose from—though sometimes I feel so overwhelmed by the numerous choices that I choose nothing at all. I depend on the convenience of the Internet for research, but I also feel frustrated because there's so much information there.

Screens are part of our lives, and they're here to stay. But we long for deep connection with the teens we love. And that means making sure we give our relationships their rightful priority and connect face-to-face.

Being honest and recognizing how technology influences you can improve your relationship with your teens. You can talk about what you have in common rather than being frustrated by differences.

One expert in the effects of media and technology on culture says, technology "is fast, cheap, effective, and cool. That's the good part. The bad part is that it's fast, cheap, effective, and cool." We all know that digital technology itself isn't the problem. Technologies and how we use them can be wonderfully life-giving. They are both tools and toys—tools we need and toys we enjoy. But the content and use of technology can cause problems when they begin to encroach on our development in five core areas of need that both parents and teens share.

TECHNOLOGY AND OUR FIVE CORE NEEDS

My interest in technology took a big leap when my staff and I met with Scott Degraffenreid, a social network analyst and statistician. Scott came to help us understand how young people were being affected by our digital culture and its rapid-fire changes. Scott became a trusted friend and a mentor for me in this area of digital influences.

As a staff we began to apply Scott's information about the culture of technology to what we knew about young peoples core needs of security, identity, belonging, purpose, and competence. Suddenly, the behaviors and problems we'd been recently observing in teens began to make sense.

God created every single person with deep core needs of security, identity, belonging, purpose, and competence. For more is than twenty-five years, I've been teaching about these God-given needs and how, ideally, we meet them in healthy ways. There have always been problems when people try to meet these five core needs in unhealthy or counterfeit ways. I began to see that teens were turning to technology and the digital culture to meet their deep core needs—and technology is a definite counterfeit that doesn't work to meet those needs.

We can start by getting better acquainted with the five core needs. You will find them familiar because you have them yourself!

Security

Security is our first core need, and it's defined by the question Who can I trust? We're healthiest when we meet our need...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: MOODY PUBL
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2015
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0802412696
• ISBN 13: 9780802412690
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 256
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar