Jonathan McNair

Do you ever wonder if you are “missing out”? You know what I mean. You have grown up with parents who would not let you go out and party. They have always insisted on knowing where you were, and are not “okay” with you coming in at all hours of the night. They want to know who your friends are. They make you share your Facebook password with them and do not believe in “computer privacy” for kids. Maybe they even home-school you!

How do you want to be remembered? What do you want your reputation to be? As infants, human beings think only of their own wants and needs. But as we move into the teen years and beyond, we become more concerned with what others think of us—and rightly so. We read, “Even a child is known by his deeds, whether what he does is pure and right” (Proverbs 20:11).

Researchers in recent years have observed that young people are spending large amounts of their time using electronic media—to a degree unprecedented in prior generations. Some estimates put young people’s daily use of electronic media in the 7–8 hour range (“Young people spend 7 hours, 38 minutes a day on TV, video games, computer,” Los Angeles Times, January 28, 2010). One survey found that 38 percent of students could not wait ten minutes without switching on some sort of electronic device.

A year after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast of the United States, people are beginning to rebuild their homes and their lives. What lessons have we learned from the monumental devastation? What lessons should we be learning?