Author’s note: I was given permission to write this blog post for the school’s website, but the opinions herein are my own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Front Range Christian School or its administration. ~ DJ Turner, Communications Director
One of the topics I’ve written more blog posts about for FRCS than any other is social media. It is ubiquitous, and its influence in our lives is more pervasive than you might imagine. It impacts our children’s lives in ways foreign to those of us who are not digital natives, but the effects of the behemoth tech companies are not limited to our children.
Over Christmas break, I finally had the opportunity to watch The Social Dilemma on Netflix. It had been on my watchlist for several months, but I avoided watching it because, honestly, I was a little afraid of what I would see. I know that documentaries are still stories, albeit stories based on fact, and they are often told with a very particular slant. I have a love-hate relationship with social media as it is, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready to commit to deleting all my accounts, as I fully expected to want to do after watching the movie.
That said, I wished I would have watched it sooner.
I have been troubled by the growing dissension in our country. Regardless of whether you lean right or left, or like me, try to remain somewhere in the middle, you can’t help but feel the palpable tensions growing. Accusations fly, assumptions are made, biased reports of the activities of the other side run rampant, and yet everyone is convinced that their side is correct. Left and Right have always disagreed, but the chasm seems wider than ever. So what’s different about now?
Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in our country (in fact, it is second only to unintentional injury in people ages 10-34, and is in the top 10 causes of death for all age groups ages 10-64*). Talk of and thoughts about suicide are frighteningly common amongst teens. Suicide ideation is almost “fashionable” in some circles. The teen years have always been difficult and sad thoughts are common amongst both the young and the elderly. So what in recent years has changed to help cause struggles with mental health to rise exponentially?
If you’ve wondered about these trends, too, I encourage you to watch The Social Dilemma. If you are a parent whose children have a mobile phone or a social media account, or if you are thinking about getting a phone for your child, I encourage you to watch this documentary. If you use social media and have any curiosity about some of the changes that have been made to your feed or have ever been a little “freaked out” when you were talking about something and then suddenly have an ad for that something show up in your news feed on Facebook, you really should watch this film.
It is not told from a Christian perspective, but that does not diminish what you will learn from watching it. In fact, if you watch it from a biblical worldview, you will be reminded of many of God’s truths. You may even see some of yourself and your family in it.
If you haven’t already seen it, I implore you to watch The Social Dilemma on Netflix. Spend some time in prayer before watching. Watch it with your family or friends at FRCS and discuss it afterwards. It will change your perspective on the seemingly harmless influence of social media on our culture and our lives.
In full disclosure, I have not yet deleted all of my social media accounts. I have deleted a couple of them, and I rarely check the others (except Instagram…I have a weakness for pretty pictures, so most of the accounts I follow are landscape or astro photographers).
* source: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide.shtml
