Do you know that the average elementary age child spends 1680 minutes per week in front of a television? That’s 28 hours.
Or that the average child –
Plays 1880 minutes or 30 hours of video games per week?
And spends another 623 minutes (over 10 hours) a week on a computer?
That’s a total of 68 hours sitting inside in front of a screen. Even if this number’s exaggerated by 2x that would still mean that the average child spends 34 hours a week inside interacting with technology.
In contrast research tells us that the average child spends –
- 30 minutes a week playing outside
- 3.5 minutes a week in meaningful conversation with their parents
- And less than an hour in a church, youth group or youth ministry gathering
- Which means kids spend just over an hour a week in meaningful engagements with people and places that can positively shape and influence their lives?
34 hours compared to 1.25 hours. Think about the implications of that for a moment.
Kids need much more than screen time to grow physically, emotionally and spiritually
- Kids need to interact with God’s creation by being outside
- They need to be nurtured within their family – God created the family for just this purpose.
- Finally kids need to be a part of a faith community such as a local church or other ministry
Yet these vital interactions are being squeezed out by technology. Not by war, famine or economic collapse but by a little screen.
Here’s another reality – all those negative trends about kids can be reversed by a week at a Christian camp (such as SpringHill Camps) where the average camper spends
- 36 hours outside per week doing incredibly fun, exciting and growing activities
- 300 minutes in a meaningful conversation with a staff person (that’s nearly two year’s worth of meaningful conversation with a parent)
- 10 to 12 hours a week in individual Bible study and small and large group settings learning about God and His plan for their lives.
So if you want to make a difference in the life of a young person give them the opportunity to attend summer camp. It may just change their life forever. (Click here to find out how you can help as well as share this post with others)