{"id":40683,"date":"2025-02-18T06:00:06","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T14:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=40683"},"modified":"2025-02-17T09:32:56","modified_gmt":"2025-02-17T17:32:56","slug":"the-rules-of-the-playground-you-are-commanded-not-to-enjoy-yourselves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/the-rules-of-the-playground-you-are-commanded-not-to-enjoy-yourselves\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rules of the playground – “You are commanded not to enjoy yourselves!”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cStanding on a whale fishing for minnows\u201d[1]<\/a> is an apt description for many critics of the modern-day church. Many years ago, one of my best friends and I were working together in a church. We were involved in youth ministry and evangelism together. They were exciting times and were foundational to the type of leader I am today. In those days, I remember my friend\u2019s language started to become critical of the church and Christians in it, and I had a decision to make. Do I stay close to him or disconnect and allow him to walk his journey? I\u2019m glad our friendship separated. Critics of the modern church observe that no institution involving human participation can achieve perfection. While this is true in essence, the notion of entirely dismissing the church in favour of establishing a supposedly “perfect” alternative is fundamentally flawed and paradoxically reinforces the wisdom of the opening Polynesian proverb.<\/p>\n

It is notable that an atheist and social psychologist, Jonathan Haidt, inadvertently highlights the significant benefits the church offers to today’s anxious generation. This observation serves as both an encouraging acknowledgement and a compelling rebuttal to some of the most vocal critics of the church, whether they arise from within or outside its community.<\/p>\n

Before addressing the author\u2019s unintentional support for the church, Haidt\u2019s call for four foundational reforms to provide a healthier childhood is worthy of note. The idea of No smartphones before high school, no social media before sixteen, phone-free schools and far more unsupervised play and childhood independence<\/em>[2]<\/a> have their merit, and the author\u2019s research and supporting arguments make logical sense. Enforcing each of the reforms, however, appears tricky. While phone-free schools<\/em> seem the easiest reform to actuate, the very idea of enforcing the other three is akin to the overreaches of Liberal governments today.[3]<\/a> Clearly, governments are already aware of the damaging implications of \u201cphone-based childhood\u201d[4]<\/a> attempting reform. Recently, in the news, Australia has passed a bill banning under 16\u2019s from accessing social media. [5]<\/a> Is it the government\u2019s job to enforce this, and how will they do so? Penalise the parents? Perhaps Haidt\u2019s reforms are better seen as ideals worth implementing in each family unit, rather than Government enforced policy. Prioritising the education of parents and communities is a more effective approach than attempting to place governments in the untenable position of policing children\u2019s interactions with phone-based technology.<\/p>\n

An example of parental and community leader education is found in Haidt\u2019s core premise for writing the book, which is expressly stated on numerous occasions. His belief is that \u201coverprotection in the real world and underprotection in the virtual world \u2013 are the major reasons why children born after 1995 became the anxious generation.\u201d[6]<\/a> That this has led to children being in permanent defence mode[7]<\/a> is both enlightening and alarming. The world changes with each generation, and while older generations often lament the nostalgic “good times” of their childhood,[8]<\/a> it is crucial to critically examine the profound impact of digital media, smartphones, and social media on the developmental trajectory of childhood. According to Haidt, these technological shifts are significantly contributing to an epidemic of mental illness among Generation Z, partly due to the generation’s tendency to operate in a constant state of defence. Haidt\u2019s damming statement that \u201cSocial media is a disease of the mind\u201d[9]<\/a> is not merely an old man\u2019s lament of nostalgia but research-based.<\/p>\n

In writing about the opportunity cost of a phone-based childhood, Haidt identifies Four foundational harms to children. These include social deprivation, sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation and addiction.[10]<\/a> The church is active in combatting each of these harms. Firstly, the church provides ample opportunity for interaction for children with people of all ages in the church community. Whether it be through small group programs or age-based ministries within the church, the opportunity for children to interact with others at all stages and ages of development is evident. Second, attention fragmentation: any child who has learnt to sit through sermons in the church has ample opportunity to overcome this apparent harm. I\u2019ve never been a fan of those who say, \u201cPreaching should be 10 to 20 minutes or less.\u201d In highly subjective terms, I have found proponents of this type of idea to be \u201ctoo mature for earthly good in the church\u201d or members of churches where the preaching is boring. For example, “The Joe Rogan Experience” is the world’s #1 podcast, drawing an impressive average of 11 million listeners per episode. Its widespread appeal spans various demographics, with a strong presence among listeners aged 12 to 34. Episodes typically run between 2 to 3 hours.[11]<\/a> Perhaps the issue is not that preachers speak shorter but that preachers work harder to \u201ctickle the oyster\u201d[12]<\/a> and, in doing so counter the harm of attention fragmentation. Third and fourthly, addiction and sleep deprivation are actively countered in the church through preaching series, discipleship courses and small group conversations.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Polynesian Proverb is a testament to missing the point. Haidt has effectively revealed that phone-based childhoods have rewired Gen Z because, in part, children have missed part of the point of being a child. That is, play. In a small town near where my mum and sister live in Australia, there is a playground for children. I took my children (who are now 24 and 21) to it many times over the years. Even now, on our annual trip to Australia, we stop at the playground and take a picture of them standing next to the same sign which is attached to the gate. We laughed then, and we laugh now.<\/p>\n

The sign is pictured and dates to the year 2000. It is still there. Truly, those born after 1995[13]<\/a> are an anxious generation. I\u2019m happy to say that God has been good to my children. In part because their mother (my wife) is amazing and because the church has countered the four harmful aspects of a phone-based childhood<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Haidt, Jonathan. 2025. The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness<\/em>. 1st edition. Penguin. 247.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Ibid, 15 & 290.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> [3] Deneen, Patrick J. 2019. Why Liberalism Failed: Politics and Culture Series<\/em>. Reprint edition. New Haven\u202f; London: Yale University Press.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Haidt, 7.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> \u201cAustralia approves social media ban on under-16s.\u201d BBC News<\/em>. Accessed December 2, December 2024. https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/c89vjj0lxx9o<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Ibid. 9, 15, 17.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Ibid, 93.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Skoda, Hannah. 2023. \u2018Nostalgia and (Pre-)Modernity\u2019. History and Theory<\/em> 62, no. 2: 251\u201371. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/hith.12297.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Haidt, 208.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Ibid, 113.<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> \u2018Joe Rogan Podcast Numbers: Unveiling the Staggering Reach of JRE\u2019. n.d. Mount Bonnell. Accessed 28 December 2024. https:\/\/www.mountbonnell.info\/joes-austin\/joe-rogans-podcast-numbers-exposed-the-shocking-truth-behind-his-billion-dollar-empire.<\/p>\n

[12]<\/a> Spurgeon, C. H. 2017. The Soul-Winner\u202f: Or How to Lead Sinners to the Saviour (1895).<\/em> Illustrated edition. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. 64.<\/p>\n

[13]<\/a> Haidt, 5.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cStanding on a whale fishing for minnows\u201d[1] is an apt description for many critics of the modern-day church. Many years ago, one of my best friends and I were working together in a church. We were involved in youth ministry and evangelism together. They were exciting times and were foundational to the type of leader […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":191,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3301,2967,1214],"class_list":["post-40683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-anxiousgeneration","tag-dlgp03","tag-haidt","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/191"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40683"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40686,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40683\/revisions\/40686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}