The Urgency of Shifting From Smartphone-Based to Play-Based and Familial and Biblical-Based Childhood
According to data from the Central Statistics Agency (B.P.S.) of Indonesia in 2023, the proportion of individuals who master gadgets at age 5-14 years is 36.99%, and aged 15-24 is 92.14%. In general, Indonesia holds the world record for the longest screen time per day, which is 6.05 hours per day, beating Thailand and Argentina.[1]
However, gadgets have become a part of Indonesian citizens’ everyday lives. The impact of the habit of playing with gadgets every day is that Indonesian people are also said to have low literacy and the habit of being too lazy to walk.
What about children? Referring to the data above, it is inevitable that children in Indonesia will also be exposed to the influence of gadget use and social media. The increasing number of cases of bullying among children and adolescents in Indonesia can prove this. Violent behavior, torture, and sexual violence have also occurred in our country. Recently, our country’s mass media was shocked by the behavior of junior high school students who had sexual intercourse in class, witnessed by their friends without any fear or shame whatsoever.[2] This is something that, for Indonesian society, which is known to be very religious, is considered a very taboo thing.
This phenomenon is genuinely concerning. Technology that should be used to improve the quality of human life has destructive impacts. There has been a shift in culture and lifestyle, one of the leading causes of which is gadgets or smartphones. This shift has occurred since the end of the 1980s and stopped in the mid-2010s. Haidt, in his book, writes, “The late 1980s as the beginning of the transition from a “play-based childhood” to a “phone-based childhood,” a transition that was not complete until the mid-2010s, when most adolescents had their own smartphone.”[3] That is why Haidt emphasized that the central aim of his book is to show how Gen Z is affected by gadgets and social media and growing anxious. Haidt insists, “central claim in this book is that these two trends—overprotection in the real world and underprotection in the virtual world—are the major reasons why children born after 1995 became the anxious generation.”[4]
This phenomenon is unfortunate. Without realizing it, the technology created to help humans is damaging the younger generation by making them anxious. Someone who is diagnosed with anxiety will experience what Haidt said: anxiety will affect the mind and body in various ways. Physically, anxiety is often felt as tension or discomfort in the stomach and chest. Emotionally, it appears as fear and worry, which can lead to fatigue. From a cognitive perspective, anxiety makes it difficult to think clearly, triggering unproductive rumination and distorted thought patterns such as exaggerating problems and black-and-white thinking. These distortions can worsen physical symptoms, creating a vicious cycle that reinforces anxiety.[5]
Haidt’s thoughts in this book provide critical awareness for parents, governments, and schools (including churches) about how dangerous it is for children not to be protected from the virtual world due to parental ignorance and lack of understanding. Haidt asserts, “The diffusion of digital technology into children’s lives has been like smoke pouring into our homes. We all see that something strange is happening, but we don’t understand it.”[6] Haidt invites us all to be brave and firm in taking preventive and curative measures against gadgets’ negative impacts on children. Haidt says, “If you think the phone-based childhood is bad for children and you want to see a return to play-based childhood, say so.”[7]
Haidt provides four critical solutions to prevent and overcome this problem. The four things are: 1. No smartphones before high school, 2. No social media before 16 3. Phone-free schools 4. Far more unsupervised play and childhood independence.[8] Why no smartphones before high school? Haidt argues, “Smartphones are very different. They connect you to the internet 24/7, they can run millions of apps, and they quickly became the home of social media platforms, which can ping you continually throughout the day, urging you to check out what everyone is saying and doing. This kind of connectivity offers few of the benefits of talking directly with friends. In fact, for many young people, it’s poisonous.”[9] Delaying opening a social media account is also an intelligent move that Haidt offers. Haidt proposes, “Let your children get well into puberty, past the most vulnerable early years, before letting them plug into powerful socializing agents like TikTok or Instagram. Opening an account is a major step in which adolescents provide personal data to the platform, put themselves into a stream of personalized content chosen by an algorithm to maximize engagement, and begin to post content themselves. Delay that fateful step until well into high school.”[10]
In my opinion, Christian and church leaders should also read this very enlightening book. However, my criticism is that Haidt did not write or include a section on “what the church should do” as part of his book. In my opinion, many churches and their leaders are stuttering on this issue. Many of them also do not bother with this matter. This is a deplorable attitude. Generation Z and the next generation need the role of the church. Suppose I suggest that the author include this section in this book. So, the shift that we must make is from phone-based childhood to play-based, biblical, and familial childhood to present the next generation who are strong in God and who will become successors of families and churches that bless many people. This is the crucial task and responsibility of the Christian family and church, as the Bible says in Psalm 127:4-5: “Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.”
[1] https://www.cnbcindonesia.com/tech/20240225175344-37-517428/warga-ri-sudah-kecanduan-parah-juara-satu-sedunia. Accessed October 16, 2024.
[2] https://www.merdeka.com/peristiwa/viral-siswa-di-demak-berhubungan-badan-di-dalam-kelas-205523-mvk.html. Accessed October 17, 2024.
[3] Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness (New York: Penguin Press, 2024), Introduction.
[4] Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation.
[5] Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation, Chapter 1.
[6] Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation, Conclusion.
[7] Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation, Conclusion.
[8] Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation, Conclusion.
[9] Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation, Chapter 1.
[10] Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation, Chapter 12.
About the Author
Dinka Utomo
Dinka Nehemia Utomo is an ordained pastor of the Protestant Church in the Western part of Indonesia (Gereja Protestan di Indonesia bagian Barat or GPIB). He has served for more than 15 years. The first five years of his ministry were in the remote area of East Kalimantan, including people from the indigenous Dayak tribe in the small villages in the middle of the forest, frequently reached using small boats down the river. For more than 15 years, Dinka has served several GPIB congregations in several cities in Indonesia. He has always had a passion for equipping Christian families, teaching and guiding them to build equal relations between husband and wife, maintaining commitment, love, and loyalty, creating a healthy and constructive Christian family atmosphere, and rejecting all forms of violence and sexual violence. Dinka's beloved wife, Verra, is also a GPIB pastor. They have two blessed children. Dinka and his wife and children love to spend quality family time, such as lunch or dinner, and vacation to exotic places.7 responses to “The Urgency of Shifting From Smartphone-Based to Play-Based and Familial and Biblical-Based Childhood”
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Hi Dinka,
YES, the church should address this issue.
Last weekend the pastor rhetorically asked, what things do we love an shouldn’t. One teenage boy shouted out…:”our phones.” Wow.
Pam Lau told me that God is not surprised by the internet.
My mind flashed back to Genesis 11:6 The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.
Then I thought about a hard wood tree. One person harvests the fruit for 20 years feeding family and friends, when the tree dies the farmer makes a plow, One, a Soldier, takes the wood and makes a shaft for a spear. Somewhere in the tree’s life there were children climbing, children swinging, and teen agers smooching in the cool shade.
God created man and the tree. With free will he gave us, we are challenged, tempted, connected by social media. Pluses? I interact with Europe and Africa daily on social media. Minuses? Well Haidt spells that out.
Consider the gun, like social media, useful or deadly.
That’s all I got.
Shalom
Hi Russell,
Thank you for your response. I appreciate it!
You write a thoughtful reflection that makes important points about the dual nature of technology, especially social media. The analogy you use between social media and other tools like trees or guns shows that social media can be used for good or bad. The response of the teenager you quoted, who referred to “our phones,”—captures this tension very well. Pam was fitting that God is not surprised by the internet, which is essential for the church to recognize the challenges and opportunities of modern technology and tools. However, Haidt’s emphasis calls us to rethink the use and influence of phones and social media for children and teens. Therefore, discussing these issues in the church is essential to helping individuals navigate the complexities of free will in the digital age. Shalom!
Dinka. This post is yet another reason for why I so love having you in this program, and especially in our peer group. You illuminated a global perspective that I did not have prior to reading your post.
So often, I think only about the USA – and yes, the impact of devices is massive here. But, wow, I didn’t know or understand the impact it is having in a part of the world that I simply do not think about often: Indonesia. Thank you.
You have given me a challenge in the final paragraphs that I want to earnestly pray about: I, as a church leader, need to say and do more about this pressing issue with my congregation. It is far too vital and far too damaging to our people, regardless of what generation they are a part of. I must be more vocal.
Thank you again Dinka.
Shalom Pastor John,
Thank you for your encouraging response. I appreciate it. Thank you also for pointing out my post’s two main points of emphasis. First, gadgets and social media use and influence is a global problem. It is a pandemic. All countries, both developed and developing, have the same problem. Second, the church’s critical role in gadgets and social media use among children and adolescents. Hopefully, churches and their leaders around the world will pay attention and make special efforts to anticipate and fix this problem so that there are no more generations of church successors who experience anxiety. On the contrary, with the presence and guidance of the church, these successors will be vital in their faith in God and become the true salt and light of the world. Blessings!
DInka,
Thank you for sharing the stats from Indonesia. I agree this is an issue where the church can help parents discern and make decisions about internet usage.
Hi Cathy,
Thank you for your response. I appreciate it. The church should realize its responsibility to the next generation so that they no longer experience anxiety. I include the church’s role so that Christians and church leaders realize the significant impact of gadgets and social media on children and teenagers. Blessings!
Dinka,
Here we are on to a new week of blogs, but I saw your first line and had to read your post. Thank you for the insight into how the smart phone epidemic is truly global in nature. You mention that you wish Haidt would have given insight to church leaders. I watched one of his interviews and he is an athiest. However, his comments on the church in the interview said that those kids who had faith where they meet weekly and had positive rhythms of faith were far healthier than those who did not. The phones still affected these kids but at much less of a level. Of course, he attributed it to the power of community. But I would say it is so much more than that. The gospel brings purpose and hope and also conviction when we know things are out of balance, as Russell shared about the boy who shouted from the pew that the phone was what he loves but he shouldn’t.
The church has such an influence. May we not grow weary in our purpose as pastors.