On God, Parenting Teens, and the Internet

Parents, I hope the message Saturday got you thinking about the intersection of your parenting and the internet, an arena in which many parents fear to tread. But your mandate for parenting includes your teen’s activity on the World Wide Web. J.C. Ryle calls parents to bold intervention in their teen’s lives in his book Duties of Parents:

“A true Christian must be no slave of fashion if he would train his children for heaven. He must not be content to do things merely because they are the custom of the world; to teach them and instruct them in certain ways, merely because it is usual; to allow them to read books of a questionable sort, merely because everybody else reads them; to let them form habits of a doubtful tendency, merely because they are the habits of the day. He must train with an eye to his children’s souls. He must not be ashamed to hear his training called singular and strange.” J.C. Ryle, Duties of Parents, 9.

Just before this passage, Mr. Ryle gives this decisive instruction:

“In every step you take about [your children], in every plan, and scheme, and arrangement that concerns them, do not leave out that mighty question, ‘How will this affect their souls?’”

Parents, how does the internet affect your teen’s soul? The most effective parents I know of don’t wonder about answers to questions like these. They find out. Here are some questions that may help you explore this topic with your teen:

• How much time do you spend online per day? What are you doing in that time?
• Whose blogs do you visit, read, or comment on?
• Do you have a blog? How do I find it?
• What appeals to you about doing what you do online?

If you didn’t get a copy, I encourage you to download and read Dr. Al Mohler’s commentary entitled “Courting Danger Online–Teenagers and the Internet.”

Categories: Thursday Thoughts For Parents, five15 blog