Tech & Faith – Finding a Balance in Kids’ Screen Time 

By Mark Naito 

Most of us have heard that tech (screens) can be harmful for kids. However, most do not know how to live with it and to avoid the pitfalls without going from one extreme to the other. Whether you have demands of using screens at school or even church, what can you do? And at the same time, how do you teach your kids to be responsible with them? 

This is a hard reality we all face. 

What most might not know is we started Navigating Tech Family based on our own family’s need to find alternative ways to live without the pitfalls of tech. Our sweet daughter had a year-long health issue which required a lot of antibiotics. My sweet wife used her smartphone at the time, with a heavily popular social media platform: YouTube. The content was not bad – worship music – but because it is designed to be addictive, I noticed some unusual tantrums from my daughter after taking away the device. As a former product marketing manager, I put on that hat and did some thorough research. 

I quickly learned that things like this are very addictive. Through that journey we discovered we were not alone, and we became aware of a need to educate people on how to live intentionally with tech while avoiding the pitfalls of it. Technology is not going away so we need to learn how to be wise with it. 

To start off, here are some statistics to be aware of. 

According to https://www.bostonmagazine.com/education/2024/08/27/truth-about-kids-and-smartphones/: 

• 95% of kids age 13-17 use social media
• 7 in 10 girls ages 11-15 with moderate to severe depressive symptoms find suicide-related content on social media monthly
• 31% of parents say they are distracted by a phone when talking to their teen, but the reality is 46% of teens say their parents are distracted by their phone when talking to them

Did you know that top tech executives like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates sent their kids to a school with no screens? Why? Because research has proven that having no screens is the optimal way to learn. And not only in school but also at home. 

(Disclaimer: We do not encourage or endorse going to the specific school system below but are merely using its secular studies as proof that screens or technology are not needed to learn.) 

Here are some direct excerpts from the Parent Handbook 2024-2025 from Waldorf School: 

• “The young child’s ability to picture, to envision and to see inwardly is crucial to the development of creativity. This delicate faculty is overwhelmed and eventually crushed by the constant bombardment of media images. Chief among them is television. In the process, the child is also taught a passive relationship to the world (outer stimulation and inner emptiness) that is very similar to that of drug or alcohol addiction.”
• “Children are also unnecessarily exposed to much that is not appropriate for their age. Recent studies also show the debilitating and distorting effects of television and other media watching (regardless of content) on the nervous systems of growing children and its contribution to learning disabilities.”
• “As with all Waldorf schools, our faculty is extremely concerned about the effect of television/media on the young child. We prefer that our students not be exposed to television, videos, computers, and computer games. We are convinced that television/media has an adverse effect on child development. The developing child is simply too young and too open to cope with the physical effects of these electronics and their substitution of electronics for human voices. Excessive screen time contributes toward nervousness, inability to concentrate, anti-social behavior, a dimming of the imagination, and a general passiveness that is deadening and harmful to learning.”

Also, a concept from Alcoholics Anonymous is the acronym H.A.L.T. Something to keep in mind with your kids in making sure they are not on any tech during this time: Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired. This is when our flesh is weak and sin tends to enter in. 

A great way to look at things with your kids is to use the following graphics as examples. Here, we can all see what we did before social media and what we all can still do today when we aren’t hooked to our screens. We can even learn and explore on our own, without a tech device near us or in our hands. (Outernet is the infrastructure that makes up parts of the internet.) 

Two graphics here: Before Social Media and The Outernet… (click here to see these images in our e-edition)

What I tell people in my coaching sessions is that there is always a way around using tech if you really look. Also, use the ultimate super computer, your brain, which our amazing creator made for us to be creative in our own way as well. Think of things that are not screen-related. You will be surprised what your kids and you come up with. 

Yesterday I felt lead, after finishing this article, to have our family do an outdoor activity. My family was not 100% on board, but after getting out to the Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge area, we found ourselves hunting for special things like rocks, flowers, and animals – we even discovered some animal footprints in the cement walk path. We had so much fun and made some lasting memories! 

Let us be honest… Some things are not “convenient” but will help everyone be more intentional in relationships with each other – especially with our families. 

Sometimes you do not need to search online for your kids. If you do not immediately go to the computer and search for them, they may actually learn a biblical principle, such as: “And patience produces character, and character produces hope. And this hope will never disappoint us, because God has poured out his love to fill our hearts.” (Romans 5:4-5) 

And because we live in such an instant society, we are not teaching our kids by example how to be patient. 

Some practical things to try is to explore local things. Ask people you know what kinds of local things they like to do. Go to the local hotel and see if they have a visitors’ brochure to pick up some ideas. Try the local newspaper for some additional ideas. Another great place is your local AAA office – their maps have ideas and other local activity sources. 

This is all with the end goal of helping your kids use the ultimate computer that the world is trying to duplicate: our brain. You will be amazed that the more you provide your kids with these opportunities the more they will grow, be creative, and will not need to be entertained. 

Our company recently was a vendor at the AACC World Biblical Conference in Tennessee. We were widely supported and told many times to, “Please keep doing what you do because we need it.” There were so many great resources we now have access to and to share about battling screen time and just doing something! The experience proved to us there is a need to make some changes. 

Some key ideas in living more intentional with tech are: 

• Meal time is sacred and there should be absolutely no screens
• No screens in any non-public areas of your house
• Look at more screen-free activities

My challenge to you as a parent is to find ways you can facilitate moving your family up the “hierarchy of communication” to in-person with your family as much as possible. You will never regret these times – especially later in life as your kids move out of the house. This will pass along a legacy to your kids to then pass along to their families as well. 

As always… please share with us your stories! We love to hear the transformations and how God is moving. We recognize our main role is to help people join God in what He is already doing. We sometimes simply need to remove the distractions to see that, even things that are not technology-related. We pray the good Lord would bless you in your journey and please reach out if you need anything. 

Mark Naito is passionate about helping people by seeking ‘root cause’, providing result-oriented solutions and good outcomes. His passion has always been to empower others to be educated to make their own informed decisions on what makes sense for themselves or their family. He started Navigating Tech Family toward that goal. He is a family man with a beautiful wife and kids and loves doing life with his family in the outdoors. He may be reached at mark@navtechfam.com.