A recent study conducted by Barna Group has found that the digital age is shaping families in striking and unexpected ways. The study made five major findings, each of which challenges popular assumptions previously made.
1. Parents are just as dependent on technology as their 11-17 year olds.
Despite popular assumptions that teenagers drive the technology gap in families, it has been found that parents spend almost the same amount of time per day as their children using various digital technologies. This is true to an even greater degree among parents in their thirties or early forties.
2. Most family members believe that technology is a positive influence on their family.
Again the popular assumption that families are fed up with the effect of technology on their relationships has been found to be untrue. Most describe the influence of technology as neutral (51%), while only 18% of parents think it worsens family life compared to 32% who actually think it improves matters. That ratio greatly increases amongst teenagers with 47% seeing technology as positive while only 6% see it as negative.
3. Very few adults or youth take substantial breaks from technology.
The study found an apparent addiction to technology among both adults and youth with only 10% of parents and 6% of teenagers saying they take regular time off from their digital usage. Furthermore, such breaks tend to be driven by convenience rather than intentionality.
4. Families experience conflict about technology, but not in predictable ways.
Surprisingly, only one in four parents said they had “strong disagreements about the limits on media and technology” on a weekly basis, while the same proportion agree that technology causes tension between them and their children. For their part, 21% of teenagers felt their parents have a “double standard when it comes to technology,” while 17% think their parents “bring their work home with them too much,” a bad habit made worse by pervasive technology.
Interestingly enough, only 39% of parents and 27% of 11-17 year olds said technology caused frustration because it “makes it hard to have conversations.” The study found that technology only reinforced relational habits already in place; in other words, healthily communicating families find technology aids them, while families that struggle to communicate find technology exacerbates their problems.
5. Few families have experienced - or expect - churches to address technology.
Families have not experienced any form of coaching or assistance from community centres like churches to aid them in best using technology to enhance relationships. 42% of parents and 33% of children said they would be open to such teaching.
David Kinnaman, president of Barna Group, commented on the findings of the study by challenging churches to expand their concept of stewardship.
“Perhaps technology should be added to discussions about stewardship. Technology is as old as craftman’s tools. But today’s digital and emerging technologies are in a different class than hundreds of other hobbies or interests because they have come to significantly define the use of time, the development of talent, and the allocation of money,” he said.
“Technology is shaping family interactions in unprecedented ways, but we seem to lack a strategic commitment to the stewardship of technology. The Christian community needs a better, more holistic understanding of how to manage existing and coming technological advances. Parents, tweens and teens need more coaching and input in order to face the countless choices they make regarding how technology affects their attention, interests, talents and resources.”
The study is entitled “The Family and Technology Report” and was conducted in partnership with Orange, which is part of reThink Group. You can find a full copy of this article and the study itself on www.barna.org.