Dear High School Community,

Many of us feel the daily tug-of-war with technology. We want our kids to learn, rest, and thrive, and we also want them connected, informed, and safe. As a Christian school, we believe Scripture offers a hopeful, practical path. Technology is a tool to be wisely stewarded, not a master to be obeyed (1 Corinthians 6:12; Ephesians 5:15–16).

Three helpful voices I have appreciated lately. Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath in The Digital Delusion reminds us that learning happens in the brain, not the device. Tools can support attention and memory, but they can’t replace them. Multitasking, rapid task-switching, and constant notifications fragment attention and reduce retention. Simpler, slower, and more focused work  beats faster and flashier reading and studying, especially for note‑taking. Jonathan Haidt in The Anxious Generation charts how the “phone-based childhood” has displaced sleep, unstructured play, in-person friendship, and family time, correlating with rising anxiety and loneliness. He proposes four family-school norms; no smartphones before high school, no social media before 16, phone-free schools, and more free play. Andy Crouch in The Life We’re Looking For calls us to form households of deep personhood in a world of powerful devices. Technology should be an instrument that amplifies human presence and skill, not a substitute for it. He urges families to prize attention, hospitality, craft, and shared work over “easy-everywhere” convenience.

We should all work very hard to maintain a biblical frame for tech and learning. We are image-bearers, not products. Our children are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). Their attention and affections are precious and we are to guard them (Proverbs 4:23). We must choose wisdom over conformity and resist being “conformed to this world” (Romans 12:2), including the attention economy, and seek practices that renew the mind. We should prioritize freedom in Christ to avoid being mastered by the word; “All things are lawful…but I will not be dominated by anything” (1 Corinthians 6:12). Phones are tools, Christ is Lord. We need to aim at proper structures and habits for both work and rest. God’s pattern for life includes Sabbath rest (Exodus 20:8–11; Mark 2:27). Stillness, sleep, prayer, and play are not luxuries, they are essential.