Imagine growing up as the most digitally connected generation in human history.
“Generation Alpha has been completely formed by technology and screens and social media, meaning they’ve been on screens most of their life,” said Shane Pruitt author of the book Reaching Generation Alpha: A Ministry Guide for Discipling the Church Beyond the Screen.”
Pruitt points to research showing just how early digital tech enters the lives of today’s young people.
“Even before their teen years, a majority have had regular access to devices like tablets and smartphones,” he said.
Fourteen-year-old Kaileb Lewis said he first got a smartphone at the age of five.
Tyiana Johnson, also fourteen – said she was seven or eight.
And for many in this generation, screen time adds up to multiple hours each day.
“Eight to twelve hours,” said 11-year-old Dallas Clark.
Sixteen-year-old Lela Clayton admitted to being on phone five or six hours a day.
Pruitt said that much time online goes beyond entertainment. It can shape how young people think, what they value and even who they become.
“I would even call it a discipleship war,” Pruitt told CBN News. “Meaning if they have a screen, if they have a tablet, if they have a smartphone, they’re being discipled by something or someone — an algorithm, entertainer, a cultural agenda.”
There is also growing concern about what impact this digital environment has on the mental health of today’s generation.
A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that spending four or more hours daily on non-school screen time made teenagers more likely to report symptoms of anxiety and depression.
“A lot of young people struggle with just a lot of mental issues and just being depressed,” said Clayton. “And it’s really sad because sometimes there’s no one there to really help them.”
“I feel like my phone is my everything,” Johnson admitted. “I come to that when I feel depressed, down, anything.”
So how can churches reach this generation growing up in a world of smartphones, social media, and artificial intelligence? For Generation Alpha, it’s more than just getting their attention. It’s about building genuine relationships.
“I feel like building relationship is everything because you don’t know what somebody else going through,” said Johnson.
Fifteen-year-old Sophie Knox became a Christian at age seven. She said for young people to truly hear the gospel, they first need to know they can trust who’s sharing it.
“You have to build a relationship with a student as you’re preaching the gospel to them because you have to trust a person,” said Knox.
CBN News sat down with a group of young people to get their take on the subject.
