Does Social Media Do More Harm Than Good?

All this week we’ve been looking at some of the latest data from the Pew Research Center on how parents of children ages twelve and under are managing the realities of life in a smartphone saturated world. One finding that should cause us to pause in our parenting steps is this: parents overwhelmingly think using social media does more to harm than benefit their kids. In fact, eighty-percent of parents of kids twelve and under say that there are more harms than benefits from social media. This begs a question: If, in fact, there are any harmful aspects related to social media use, why are we allowing our kids to engage with social media through their smartphones and screens? Parents, the Apostle Paul tells us in the book of Ephesians that our high calling is to nurture and raise our children in the admonition of the Lord. We need be about the work of protecting our children from harm and providing for their well-being. Remember this as you think about your kids and social media.