Will Narnia, Lord of the Rings, and other children’s Christian classics soon be relegated to museums due to the rise of the smartphone? And how will this affect the faith of the next generation?
The rise of the internet and social media in the past 20 years and the availability of artificial intelligence has had dramatic effects on the media and society in general. But those who are so young that they do not know a world without this technology are the most affected and potentially the most at risk.
Reading has been a central part of a child’s education and enjoyment for hundreds of years. Could the enjoyment of reading novels or learning through popular non-fiction books soon be a thing of the past?
That’s the conclusion of Ted Gioia, in a recent post: “The number of youngsters who read for fun is collapsing.”
His thesis, widely popularised in a recent viral post, is that social media companies are producing fast-paced scrolling videos and other content that is becoming addictive, and it is drawing us away from healthier activities such as reading newspapers, books, watching movies and traditional dating and sports.
He paints a dystopian picture of the new world of the ‘dopamine cartel’, these more wholesome activities being replaced by endless clickbait, viral TikToks, swiping on dating apps and gambling sites.
Gioia cites Pew Research data that shows since the 1980s, the number of US children who never read for fun has dramatically increased, while those who read every day has fallen dramatically.
Anecdotally, the young people I’ve had contact with say the same: they rarely read. For entertainment, they now turn to their phones.
Gioia does not discuss religion or how the rise of the ‘dopamine cartel’ will affect spirituality. But if quiet prayer and reading the Bible is replaced by watching unaccountable Christian ‘influencers’ with their own, untested opinions about faith, could the effects on the faith of the next generation be catastrophic?
Phone-free childhoods
In recent years there has been increased concern about the effect that the rise of the smartphone is having on young people’s mental health, which has been declining sharply during the same period of time.
Jonathan Haidt has been at the forefront of arguing for preventing the use of smartphones in the young altogether, in the same way that we have outlawed smoking, violent films, or other harms to children’s health. His book “The Anxious Generation” describes “how childhood underwent a ‘great rewiring’ in the blink of an eye, between 2010 and 2015. The result was a new ‘phone-based childhood,’ which altered the developmental pathways of children and adolescents, bringing them minimal benefits while reducing the time spent on beneficial real-world activities such as sleeping, playing with friends, talking with adults, reading books, focusing on one task at a time, or even just daydreaming.”
Again, Haidt’s concern is not faith and spirituality, but these problems must surely impact the way in which our young people will relate to God and faith.
Smartphones and literacy
There are obvious concerns about technology and the internet for Christian parents because they can bring access to harmful content and pornography, or even predators. But could even well-monitored and ‘safe' use harm literacy?
As the phenomenon is so new, evidence is limited. However research suggests that phones are changing the way people read, and that this could be damaging. For example, studies show that screen-based reading comprehension decreases compared to reading on a paper medium.
Research from the National Literacy Trust as far back as 2013 found “Children who only read on-screen are significantly less likely to enjoy reading and less likely to be strong readers”.
The more that toddlers use screens, the poorer their language development, according to one study. Heavy use of ‘screens' is associated with poorer language skills in older children, too.
In what way would poorer literacy skills affect how a child would read the Bible? Or the many Christian books that can stir a young person’s faith – from Narnia, to inspiring testimonies of missionary adventures?
Reading and Christian faith
So one of the most important questions is, what effect will a dramatic shift from books to online content have on the faith of younger people? Will it affect how they read and understand the Bible? Will their exposure to possibly extreme or heretical religious content skew their understanding?
For the past 75 years or so, young people have read classic literature like the ‘Lord of the Rings’ and the Narnia series without always being aware of the deep Christian faith and underlying Christian values and symbols in the books. If they are replaced with unregulated snappy videos designed to grasp the attention rather than edify the spirit, what will be the consequence?
“I have begun to wonder about the significance of the shifting tide away from print Bibles and towards digital Bibles on screens (smartphones, tablets, laptops),” writes scholar Jeffrey S Siker in his book ‘Liquid Scripture: The Bible in a Digital World’.
“Is this change benign? Are there significant new insights that might result from the use of millions of digital Bibles? Are there significant problems of which we are simply unaware that will emerge as this transition to digital religious media continues?” he ponders.
His conclusion is that there are ‘mixed blessings’ – yet the reality is that we do not yet know what the effect will be. But by the time there is enough research undertaken to draw a firm conclusion, the damage may have already been done, especially on the youngest people who have no experience of a life without ubiquitous ‘screens’.
Turning to traditional ways
There are a number of movements that are taking pre-emptive action to resist these societal changes. The increasing popularity of ‘classical education’ is one counter-movement against the problems of the modern world. This style teaches children classic books deliberately and looks to the ‘great books’ throughout history to educate and inspire, rather than modern writers. Although it is not entirely Christian, many of its proponents argue that it is the best way to build and maintain a faith-based worldview in a child.
In the UK a parental fightback has already begun, with carers pledging to prevent their young people from having access to phones. If the ‘phone free childhood’ becomes more popular it will make it easier for more young people to resist the temptations.
Perhaps we can have the most effect ourselves by increased awareness of the dangers of the smartphone and choosing to limit our own use of the ‘screen’, or stop using them entirely.
Heather Tomlinson is a freelance Christian writer. Find more of her work at heathertomlinson.substack.com or via X (twitter) @heathertomli
