We take away our students cell phones during youth group. You know what? Our students actually like it.

There are worse things than being forced to take a tech-break during our time together at youth group. We all need the break and we all appreciate people looking at our face during a conversation rather than competing with the lure of the shimmering screen in the other person’s hand.

It is easy to bemoan technology and there are certainly times we need to step back and take a tech-break. However, rather than simply complain about the negative aspects of technology, maybe there is another way to approach this topic. Maybe we can begin to use the power of the technology and social media platforms for good.

Texting:

Research has shown time and time again that the best way to communicate with teens is through a personal text message. There are messaging apps out there that allow you to send one text to a group of people without having to start group texts, but the lack of personalization for this form of communicating was frustrating for me. A personal text will elicit a response ten times more often than a generic one.

So how do you find time to send personal text to every student on a regular basis? Use your youth leaders! At the beginning of each week when I send out the schedule and info about our youth group that week, I also include “Text Assignments” for each leader, listing the names of students they get to send a personal text message to that week.

Each leader personally texts their 4-5 students to check in, remind them about any youth events and just tell them we’re thinking about them. The best part is, since the text assignments rotate, students hear from different youth leaders each week, which helps students build those relationships as well.

Social Media:

Studies show that teenagers today are on social media for upwards of nine hours each day. That’s crazy. However, if they are spending this kind of time on social media platforms, we certainly should be present there as well.

Befriending my students intentionally on social media helps extend our friendships beyond the two days a week we would interact otherwise. I can like their posts, comment with encouraging words, and keep tabs on what it going on in their life outside of church. I have found out some many important things about my students by stalking following them on social media.

This relationship goes both ways. I expect my students to be watching my life via social media as well. When student see my posts, they also get to learn more about my life outside of church. This gives me a chance to show them how my faith effects my everyday life beyond my church persona.

Virtual Fliers:

I will confess I am super late to the game on this one. I designed, printed and cut up paper fliers much longer than was prudent or necessary. After finally noticing that more fliers ended up in the garbage than left with students, I realized I needed a new method.

Advertising youth events via virtual fliers is much more efficient and effective in my experience. Whether posted on social media or sent directly as a text, there is no wasted paper and no excuse for a student not knowing what was going on that day. We all know they were checking their phone at some point that day.

If technology isn’t going away, and we can’t continue to hold their smart phones after youth group ends, we might as well learn to use these platforms to strengthen our interactions with students and connect with them on a deeper level. I choose to embrace technology throughout my week and use every bit of it to my advantage. I will not, however, stop confiscating phones during youth group.