Did you know that the average American teenager spends 3 hours a day on social media? That’s longer than most picture-length films nowadays. If you are wondering, that equates to 21 hours in one week and a grand whopping total of 7,644 hours a year spent on social media. 

Might as well even throw this big, scary number at you, too: 53,508. Yeah, that’s the number of hours on average that a teenager will spend on social media in their seven-year career in Middle and High School combined. That number is also most likely to grow as society relies more and more on technology to show the world around us “how life is.” Many studies, like the PEW Research Center, have shown that with increased usage of social media, students’ likelihood of dealing with anxiety, depression, and other struggles increases as well. 

Social media is proving to be a difficult and at times toxic place for students to maneuver through when dealing with life and connecting with people. But why are students then flocking to social media if the likelihood of struggling is so great for them? Well, I am no expert in social media, but in my time working with youth I have observed and experienced that most students go there for the connection they receive from others. Why? Because students are craving connection, a.k.a, they are looking for people to be PRESENT IN THEIR LIVES. 

Today, we are talking about the fact that students are lacking more than ever the presence of not just parents and adults in their lives, but also friends, and the one thing we don’t think about enough, presence with themselves. Students need a greater savior of worth than social media, and we know who can bring them that connection and presence.

Students are in dire need of people who not only show up in their lives but are inviting students into their own lives as well as being invested in them. Students want to feel as though they belong in the lives of those that are around them. Sure, it’s powerful when you show up to your students’ football game or concert, but it’s another level of support and care when those said students are invited into your life. 

When you invite them to get ice cream, to come over and watch the latest episode of a TV show, or even ask them to join you as you go grocery shopping, you’re telling them they matter enough to belong in your rhythms of life. I like to think of these kinds of interactions as whole-circle moments. I always tell my friends when it comes to any form of relationship, it takes two to dance. All in all, as we invest in students’ lives, they need to know and see that they are welcome to belong in our rhythms of life just as we invest in their rhythms. 

We see this in social media as well. Students are invited to join or watch their favorite influencers or streamers anytime said personality goes live. It may not be a genuine or truly real invitation into the influencer’s life, but it’s enough for a student to feel as if they belong. Our students shouldn’t feel so disconnected from the lives they are living that they can’t find someone to be present with them.

As the Campus Life Coordinator in University Place, it has been one of my principles to make sure students know I am an available presence they can come to. Students will find me in the places they go to hang in public and they know that I am always there for them. I’ve had several students who have gone to the store with me or I’ve invited them to play games with me. I have even taken some to church. That last one is always a game-changer and my favorite. These kinds of interactions make students feel like they belong, that they have people around them who care about them, and that they can open up about what they are facing. In these moments, we can as leaders speak life into these students, and most importantly tell them about the one who’s always present with them, Jesus.

All in all, the importance of being a presence for these students is so that they can encounter the life-changing presence of Jesus Christ. Through Him, the students see and learn that it is Him who can show them their worth and how to be present with themselves. Jesus says it well and better than me. 

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” – Luke 10:27

Students only get to experience this right here when we invite them into the rhymes of our lives. They see how we love God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our strength and mind. This gives them an understanding and an invitation to experience Jesus’ love, and it’s us doing as He asked: “and your neighbor as yourself.” 

So as you go through your day, from the smallest thing to the most important thing, be willing to invite students into your life. Care enough to allow them moments with you that they don’t get from social media, to see the love you have for Jesus and them. This is what it means to be a presence for these students. By doing this, we can and will see students’ lives changed in the 253 and beyond. 

If you’d like to learn more about Campus Life or how you can be involved in the work of bringing the hope of Jesus to the young people of Pierce County, click below.