Christian Parenting for the Digital World

1. Name one social media platform where you children is most active?

2. Name one social media influencer that your children follows?

3. Name one streaming platform does your children used to watch video?

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." (Lk 10:27).

When you look at your answer to our grab questions, you will realize that our children lived their lives in a digital world. We are really living in a world that has totally changed from analog to digital! It is a world that is very much different from the world we used to live in when we are growing up. That is why parenting in this point and time is difficult because there exists a great digital divide between us, parents (digital immigrants) and our children (digital natives). Yet, spite of this gap, we are still called by the Lord to engage with our children in a way that we reflect in them the life and words of Jesus so that they too can imitate Him as they imitate us. This is what Christian parenting is all about!

As parents, our goal, is to lead our children to Christ and formed them to be like Him as they lived their lives in this digital world. It might be an impossible task, but it is not! All we need to do is to apply these aged old biblical parenting principles in this digital world and we can be assured that our children will be able to like Christ in all their activities in their digital world.

1. Teach Them to Love God.

As parents, we need to strive to hit this objective: to see our kids grow up to love God with all their hearts, souls, mind, and strength. This is only possible if we witness our love for God to them and by bringing them to an environment where they can encounter God. By teaching the to value prayer, reading scriptures and receiving the sacraments, they will always feel God’s presence in their lives. When we do this, it will also be reflected in their own digital footprint.

2. Teach Them to Love their Neighbor as Their Selves.

As parents, we need to teach our children to love their neighbors. To love our neighbors is to show our respect for them. Respect teaches to treat others with value. When we teach our children to respect others then it will also be visible in their digital footprint.

3. Make Your Self Available to Them.

As parents we need to make ourselves available to children, physically and virtually! This is because our children spell's “love” as T-I-M-E. If we tell our children that we love them but never spend time with them, they will gradually understand that our declarations of love are empty and that they are actually unimportant to us. Thus, it is also important that we make ourselves available to our children physical and virtually.

4. Be Intentional in Your Parenting

As parents we need to be intentional, deliberate and focus in raising our children. Being intentional means talking about and living out our values and priorities before allowing other influences into our home. This trait nurtures a consistency in family life that reinforces the other traits. This is intentionality: making decisions as parents about how we will own the spiritual atmosphere in our homes will be reflected as well in the digital footprints of our children.

5. Hold Them Accountable

As parents we need to set boundaries and hold our children accountable to it. The purpose of boundaries in parenting is to “let good things in and keep bad things out.” Ordering our home with healthy boundaries for kids and adults helps us do that. Being deliberate about boundaries — for their social media, streaming, games, use of gadgets and access to website — means we do not let culture determine what is healthy for our family.

1. What biblical parenting principle to do you think you need to practice more in your children?

2. How can we improve our support for each other to be a better parent in this digital world?

Speak to your children the importance of honoring God in their digital footprint and encourage them to be open to you about their activities online.