TikTok Is Bad for Kids (Again)

Social Media,

TikTok is feeding teens a “diet of darkness.” Recently, a group of researchers created fictitious accounts of 13-year-olds and quickly found their feeds full with content about eating disorders, body image, self-harm, and even suicide. This is despite the fact that TikTok currently employs 40,000 content moderators and has default screen-time limits for teens.  

TikTok’s problems have long plagued all social media platforms. Most have made efforts to prohibit the promotion of socially contagious self-destructive behaviors, but none have been able to eliminate this content entirely. Their guidelines, bans, and moderators do nothing to restrict other destructive content, such as ideas about gender confusion and transition. 

Parents can’t rely on the goodwill of social media giants to protect their kids. They must be proactive in teaching them how to use tech wisely and, often, just say no to it. Most importantly, parents need to remind their kids who they are: people made in the image and likeness of God.

Copyright 2023 by the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Reprinted from BreakPoint.org with permission.

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AP Defines “Woman” as “Non-Man”

LGBT,

Just in time for “pride” month, the Associated Press (AP) joined the ranks of activist organizations telling Americans to embrace transgenderism. Recent updates to AP’s style guide insist that reporters use individuals’ “preferred” pronouns, avoid terms like “biological sex” and “both sexes,” call sex “assigned at birth,” and refer to controversial surgical and chemical “transition” interventions as “gender-affirming care.”

The AP justifies the new rules, claiming to follow the science. However, “the science” is far from settled on the subject. Declaring that puberty blockers are “fully reversible” or that chemical and surgical “transition” interventions are backed by evidence betrays actual truth-seeking. More and more studies indicate that these controversial interventions are detrimental to the physical health and mental wellbeing of children.

Peddling ideas that are basically dangerous pseudoscience in order to get some cultural brownie points is cowardly. The AP should stick to journalism that seeks the truth, rather than promotes harm.

Copyright 2023 by the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Reprinted from BreakPoint.org with permission.

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Americans Still Believe in God … “But”

Christianity,

Statistical data from the General Social Survey shows that, contrary to what many think, the overwhelming majority of Americans—a whopping 86%—believe in God at some level. For every American that doesn’t believe in God, there are seven who do. 

Of course, just because 4 out of 5 Americans think God exists doesn’t mean they believe in the same God or, for that matter, in the God that actually exists. What we believe about God is a defining aspect of our lives. As A.W. Tozer wrote, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”  

What we believe about God shapes what we believe about the rest of life, including those ultimate, worldview-shaping questions of origin, identity, meaning, morality, and destiny. And the more a group of people is unmoored from the truth about these things together, the more disconnected they are from those essentials of a healthy and functioning society, such as justice, human dignity, and the care and protection of children.

Copyright 2023 by the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Reprinted from BreakPoint.org with permission.

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