📲 Phone Free Activity Guides
https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry/shop/phone-free-event-guide-850030?source=storefront

DESCRIPTION
Social media has transformed how we connect, fueled by the rise of smartphones and evolving platforms. In this episode, we define social media’s roots, from its early pioneers like MySpace and Facebook to today’s dynamic apps like TikTok, and explore how to use technology as a tool to foster authentic relationships. Plus, we share practical tips for building deeper connections and introduce a Phone-Free Family Planning Guide to help balance digital and real-world interactions.

📓 SHOWNOTES
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/135

//DETOX WORKSHEET
https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry/shop/digital-detox-family-worksheet-763860?source=storefront

//AUDIT WORKSHEET
https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry/shop/social-feed-audit-activity-for-parents-789323?source=storefront

//PARENT TECH TALKS
https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry/shop/parent-tech-talks-817359?source=storefront

//📲 PHONE FREE ACTIVITY GUIDE
https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry/shop/phone-free-event-guide-850030?source=storefront

//ARTICLE
https://www.broadbandsearch.net/blog/complete-history-social-media

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Some of the below links are affiliate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products
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BEST DYM RESOURCES
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OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS & REELS
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//YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100
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//SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE
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⌚TIMECODES
00:00 Do Phones Ruin Friendships?
01:47 What is Social Media?
08:10 Idea #1
11:40 Idea #2
13:34 Idea #3

--------------
TRANSCRIPT
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:01:00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Social

00:00:01:00 - 00:00:06:20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
media usage has been growing. In fact, it's been growing since the beginning

00:00:06:20 - 00:00:19:03
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
of time. I would probably attribute the majority of social media growth to the invention of, and the rising prevalence of access to smartphones.

00:00:19:03 - 00:00:19:13
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
If

00:00:19:13 - 00:00:32:16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
you're watching this video here, go ahead and give me a like. If you remember the invention of the smartphone. And if you don't, then you owe me a subscribe because you're probably a teenager who has only ever had access to a smartphone.

00:00:32:18 - 00:00:56:21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
That juxtaposition right there is the inherent tension that exists between teenagers and parents who are navigating a brand new landscape. And so in this video, what I want to do, titled Building Real Relationships in the Digital Age, we're going to define what social media, even is. Everyone kind of carries in their own built in and baked in connotations of

00:00:56:21 - 00:00:58:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
but what is it really?

00:00:58:10 - 00:01:18:23
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I'm also going to share with you some real tips to building relationships in the digital age. And spoiler, some of those tips are actually going to be leaning into tech as a tool to enhance and build some of those relationships, and make sure that you stick around to the very end of the video, because I have for you a phone free activity guide.

00:01:18:23 - 00:01:38:19
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And what this is going to do is not only give you ideas of, you know, phone free activities that you can do, but it's going to help you navigate some of those conversations, especially with getting some of your friends maybe on board, to do an event that is more phone free, even though they may be a little bit more drawn to an addicted to their phones.

00:01:38:19 - 00:02:02:23
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And it's also going to help give you a framework as a family, how to also implement some of those events. Welcome, my friends, to the Hybrid Minister show. Hey everybody, welcome to the Hybrid Ministry Show. If you and I haven't had a chance to meet yet. My name is Nick Clayson. I've been a youth pastor and in youth ministry for 14, going on 14.5, soon to be 15 years.

00:02:02:23 - 00:02:05:04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And if you're watching here on YouTube, you'll see a chart

00:02:05:04 - 00:02:27:01
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
that defines social media usage from the beginning of 2012 all the way through when this data was captured in 2023. And I just want to let you know that if you're not watching on YouTube or if you're in the podcast, catch wherever you're listening. There are chapters included so that you can kind of hopper and skip around to the parts of this video that kind of make the most sense to you.

00:02:27:01 - 00:02:50:08
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But as we're looking at this chart, whether you're watching on YouTube or you just listening to me, describe it via your audio podcast feed, you see that in January of 2012, there were just over, 1400 users of different social accounts. Fast forward to January of 2023, and as you can imagine, that number has ballooned up to 4760.

00:02:50:08 - 00:02:57:03
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And it's probably a surely greater than 5000 now at this point, as we have surpassed into 2025

00:02:57:03 - 00:02:57:16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
and

00:02:57:16 - 00:03:21:15
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
beyond. Well, what exactly is. I think this is important. Right. And so like if you're a chapter person, you move skip this one like the definition of social media. But I think it's important for us to take a quick step back, peel back the curtain a little bit, and really try and understand what social media not only is, but where it's coming from.

00:03:21:17 - 00:03:40:04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And it's inherent like reason for even existing in the first place. And so I tried my best. I looked across some websites, I use some I, but at the end of the day, the definition that I sort of came to and use some different like articles for their link down below if you want to read them, is that social media is

00:03:40:04 - 00:03:53:08
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
online communication designed to create networks and communities where ideas, information, messages, photos, etc. can be freely shared.

00:03:53:08 - 00:04:17:19
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And if you think about what's baked into that definition, is the desire for a lot of different things communication, messages, photos, ideas, right? Like it is evolved to a spot where it's more than just a photo sharing avenue or a video sharing avenue. You can communicate ideas. You can communicate information, you can create networks, you can find people.

00:04:18:00 - 00:04:46:10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But at the base of it all is social is what it's social, right? At least in its original iteration. And it's original. Inception. The idea and the purpose behind social media was creating community and networks and connections where you could keep up with people you know. Many of us would trace socials roots back to the invention of Facebook and what Zuckerberg did on Harvard's campus.

00:04:46:10 - 00:05:17:01
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But believe it or not, social existed even before that. And I would say you could kind of trace some of its ideas back to the 90s when blogs were invented, you know, blogs kind of planted this idea in the world's heads that people, individual people, people outside of the traditional news media outlets and news sources that they could post whatever and whenever they wanted and receive feedback in live time without having to go through that pesky use.

00:05:17:01 - 00:05:39:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Like I said of like that third party. And so if you're watching here on YouTube, if you're not linked down below in the show notes hybrid ministry.xyz/135. I use this article from Broadband and Search. It's an article. What it did is it traced some of the very original social networks. So in 1997, some of you might not even know this if you don't give me a like.

00:05:39:09 - 00:06:07:08
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But six degrees was was what this, this article brought in search what they define as the very first social platform. And then following that in 2002, Friendster and Myspace and LinkedIn all were invented, and Twitter was in 2006. And then Facebook finally came and burst on the scene in, I believe this 2000 and, four, when we officially got the launch of Facebook.

00:06:07:08 - 00:06:33:03
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And as you know, it originally launched only as an exclusive opportunity on the Harvard campus, but it soon expanded beyond that. And by 2008, Facebook overtook Myspace as the most visited website in the world. 2010 is when Instagram launched, and that's actually when I dived in, dove in, to being a youth pastor. And so, I always say, I was an Instagram baby as a youth pastor.

00:06:33:03 - 00:07:01:17
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so, I've been around as a youth pastor as long as Instagram has been around, and Instagram launched originally as sort of just a photo sharing app, is meant to be a little bit more artsy than that. Maybe what was going on over in Facebook. And then 2011, Snapchat came. And Snapchat has ushered in a lot of different features that different platforms, especially with the idea of like stories have kind of adopted and made a very like big staple on their platform especially I'm looking at you Instagram and Facebook.

00:07:01:17 - 00:07:13:12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then in 2016, TikTok was invented. And in 2020, a few years after the invention of TikTok, it took the world by storm and frankly, ushered in a new social era.

00:07:13:12 - 00:07:24:11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You know, give me a like if you know that as you've watched videos on TikTok recently, do you even recognize or know the people that have posted the videos that you're watching?

00:07:24:13 - 00:07:38:11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
That's the new era, right? Social, in its original iteration, was meant to be about connections and networks, but now it's much more about maybe entertainment, sharing ideas, or even just like humor, right? And

00:07:38:11 - 00:07:38:21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
laughing

00:07:38:21 - 00:07:39:07
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
and sharing

00:07:39:07 - 00:07:52:07
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
things that cause people to laugh. And like I said, you can draw a thread all the way back, especially to the origin of some of these, to the idea behind friendship and community.

00:07:52:09 - 00:08:11:01
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And speaking of tracing a thread all the way back again, if you're watching here on YouTube, you've seen other chart from that broadband and search article, and it just, lays out the history of social, social platforms and social networks. Go ahead and take a screenshot of that and you can study that later on in your time. But what I want to move on to is I want to

00:08:11:01 - 00:08:19:01
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
kind of ask this question, how can we build relationships in a digitally based world?

00:08:19:01 - 00:08:36:21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You know, there's, a video that I came across, during kind of like Christmas break, New Year's time, and it shows and I'll, I'll link it here on screen. You can go ahead and take a look at it, but it shows how humans have spent their time over the course of history. And like the 40s and 50s, is primarily family.

00:08:36:21 - 00:09:01:04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then quickly friends took over that top spot on the kind of bar graph. But then as soon as the internet was existed, boom, it skyrocketed to the top. And what we know is that while in its original form, social was created for human ideas and connection, it has sort of supplanted what it was originally brought into. Meaningful right?

00:09:01:04 - 00:09:03:23
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
It was meant for us to connect better. But while

00:09:03:23 - 00:09:38:23
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
there's still a possibility of that happening, you know just as well as AI that some of us can spend mindless amounts of time, energy, hours and effort on social media if we're not intentional. So how do we get back to the roots of what we want? Not throwing the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak, getting rid of phones and screens and social altogether, but using it in a way that's hygienic in a 2025, always on digitally focused world, I have three tips on how you can build relationships in a digital world.

00:09:38:23 - 00:09:45:14
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And the first is so simple, right? It's just put the phone down, right.

00:09:45:14 - 00:10:01:01
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And that might seem so obvious and that might seem so basic to you, but the reason why this is important is because you need to understand that the our phones and social and some of these apps are intentionally designed to release a chemical called dopamine.

00:10:01:01 - 00:10:10:10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I'm sure you've heard this before. When you get a notification or when you doom scroll, they're built to be intentionally addictive.

00:10:10:10 - 00:10:25:14
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so while their art is good and while there can be value behind it, and as youth pastors and parents, we know we can use it even as a tool in our own lives, in our own ministries, in our own families, we also know that they're built to be intentionally addictive.

00:10:25:14 - 00:10:41:22
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So create a space where you can learn how to put the phone down. In fact, if you go back to the very first episode linked, in the playlist linked right here, the top of the screen, about detoxing in a always on tech filled world, I give some tips. There's even a worksheet

00:10:41:22 - 00:10:47:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
in that video about getting rid and creating kind of phone free environments.

00:10:47:09 - 00:10:51:08
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I believe if you, look at the worksheet in that one, I have linked like a phone

00:10:51:08 - 00:10:51:18
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
jail.

00:10:52:04 - 00:11:04:23
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
What if you did something so dramatic in your own life or your own family, where you created, like a phone jail or a phone locker kind of speak so that you could put it down and you can force yourself to not go back and pick it up.

00:11:05:01 - 00:11:24:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
In fact, I made a New Year's resolution this year that when I got home from work, I want from the time I get home from work until bedtime with my kids, I want it to be phone free. Like I want to put my phone down. I want to live my life and I hope, listen. I host a podcast called The Hybrid Ministry Show.

00:11:24:10 - 00:11:39:23
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Like, I'm all about digital. I'm all about technology. But I also don't want technology to run me. I want it to be a part of my life that's useful and meaningful and that I use. But I don't want it to run me. And so I want to put my phone on, and I want to live my life

00:11:39:23 - 00:11:40:20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
with my family.

00:11:40:20 - 00:11:55:15
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
The second idea I have for you is that why you should put your phone down? I'm speaking to those of you who are kind of hard chargers, like, yeah, like get rid of it. The second piece is tech can enhance relationships. So while you

00:11:55:15 - 00:12:03:06
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
should put your phone down so that you can live your life so that you can enhance those relationships, which is what social was built on foundationally in the first place.

00:12:03:08 - 00:12:22:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Tech is a tool to be used like I just minutes ago. I am late at night, got done watching a basketball game. Shout out to the Oklahoma City Thunder 13 game win streak, longest in franchise history. I was texting my friend in Minnesota hours away, and we're texting about sports and basketball and life.

00:12:22:09 - 00:12:27:17
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Like, I haven't seen him in person in months, but our relationship still exists.

00:12:27:17 - 00:12:51:02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
We send memes to each other in real, and we text each other and we'll call each other and we'll chat through life. And, you know, monumental moments like tech can still enhance and keep a relationship going, right? I think about group chats. I even think about silly things like sharing memes and reels. I think that's a way in today's day and age, in 2025 and beyond, that can be a love language, so to speak.

00:12:51:02 - 00:13:16:11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You know, like I have a resident now who, was off social media because he was trying to, like, focus more time on his schoolwork. And I, would screenshot or screen record reels or memes of things. He's a big office guy, and we would kind of connect on those, and I'd send this to him in text and he'd be like, thank you for knowing and noticing that I'm not social and for sending this to me so that I can actually, like, see these things.

00:13:16:11 - 00:13:37:19
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Right. Like it's still a way to connect as a matter of the medium. Like it just is a way for us to kind of like share some things, ideas and laugh together. And so that's where this saw this whole idea of hybrid comes in responsible usage. Put it down, but understand that it can still be a tool. The third idea I have for you is create rules for yourselves.

00:13:37:19 - 00:13:43:11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Or perhaps if you're a parent, a teenager, if you're a youth pastor, this is where I want to encourage you to maybe

00:13:43:11 - 00:13:54:23
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
download and share this resource with some of your parents. But what are some of the rules that you can help your teenagers? And, you know, their parents like, create for themselves and create for their families?

00:13:54:23 - 00:13:58:10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Like I said, I want to try to challenge myself to go phone free from when I get

00:13:58:10 - 00:14:31:17
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
home from work until my kids go to bed. I don't know what those rules are, but let let break some of those in. You know what? Link down below in episode 131 hybrid Administrator Xyzzy slash 131, I interviewed my friend Ronald, who is, host of the Middle School Ministry podcast, but he also is dad to middle schoolers and he had some fantastic ideas and some fantastic tips about how you can implement this idea of digital to your children, to your kids in a meaningful way, but also in a way that is going to like, help,

00:14:31:20 - 00:14:49:02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
help them kind of earn the responsibility of having tech and phones and digital. And so I can't give you like a one size fits all rule. I can, but I don't think that that's wise. I think you need to learn and lean in and kind of learn and discern what needs to go on in your family and with you in particular.

00:14:49:02 - 00:15:18:14
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so while you may be, I don't want a smartphone at all, I want a dumb phone. Only that can be your rule. But don't make that the rule for everybody. Others. It might be like, I just want to limit my usage. I want to put, you know, timers on my apps. I want whatever that's where. And, you know, episode 132 I laid out the digital detox kind of like ideas, and it comes with some just ideas of rules and maybe some things that you can like, create for yourself, or that you and your teenager can kind of work together and create for yourself.

00:15:18:18 - 00:15:24:11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But if the whole goal. Right, like if we set the whole goal of social and its original form

00:15:24:11 - 00:15:57:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
was connection to humans, maybe, just maybe, the the the phone usage, screen usage has gone a little bit out of balance, has become a little bit more than we ever sort of bargained for. And so that's why I created this screen free guide, a way to, encourage ways to have screen free or phone free, times with friends and helping kind of facilitate that for your middle school or your high school or and even encouraging and how to kind of go about that and even get that kind of conversation started.

00:15:57:11 - 00:16:19:12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And also maybe not just for friends, but also for you as a family. Right. And and maybe while we might be frustrated as parents or as guardians or even as youth pastors with our teenage teenagers usage and maybe even dependance on technology, maybe we have to take a good hard look at ourselves, and maybe they're modeling their usage after us.

00:16:19:12 - 00:16:42:21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Or at least they're seeing us. Maybe not being as mindful about it as maybe we hope to be. So that's going to be linked down below. Again, if you're a parent, youth pastor or whatever, I hope that you grab it, use it, send it, share it with a friend. But I also want to encourage you to to help create more opportunities to build real relationships in this digital age and in this cell phone era.

00:16:43:00 - 00:16:55:07
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Thank you, as always, for being here. Don't forget to stick around. Subscribe. We'll have all kinds of other episodes like this throughout the rest of this year, but don't forget to stay hybrid.

⚙️Tech Talks: For Parents and Teens
https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry/shop/parent-tech-talks-817359?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=productshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

DESCRIPTION
🎙️ Tech Talks: Equipping Parents to Guide Their Digital Natives is your ultimate resource for navigating the wild world of screens and social media! Designed to spark meaningful conversations, this episode drops 5 practical questions to help parents and teens tackle digital habits together. Bonus: there's a downloadable worksheet, perfect for your next workshop or family night. 🚀

📓 SHOWNOTES
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/134

//DETOX WORKSHEET
https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry/shop/digital-detox-family-worksheet-763860?source=storefront

//AUDIT WORKSHEET
https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry/shop/social-feed-audit-activity-for-parents-789323?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=productshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

//3 MONITORING TOOLS
VIDEO: https://youtu.be/DWYvsn2Kglk?si=wayQHd1zQC09I6qg
TRY COVENANT EYES: https://covenanteyes.sjv.io/g1zVZA

👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry
Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz

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🎉 FREE STUFF 🎉
We have all kinds of FREE Things that you can use in your context!
The best way to pay us back is a review or a YouTube Subscribe!
https://www.linktr.ee/clasonnick

--------------
🛠️TOOLS I USE THAT CAN HELP YOU!
Some of the below links are affiliate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products
VIDIQ
https://vidiq.com/hybrid

BEST DYM RESOURCES
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym

OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS & REELS
https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361

//YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit

//SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup

⌚TIMECODES
00:00 Tech Talks: Equipping Parents to Talk to their Digital Natives
01:52 Parenting Teens Philosophy
04:10 Question #1
04:44 Question #2
05:34 Question #3
06:36 Question #4
07:16 Question #5
07:51 My Recommended Parenting Apps

--------------
TRANSCRIPT
00:00:00:17 - 00:00:26:20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Let me guess. If you're a parent trying to talk to your teens about tech and screens and social, you feel like when you're doing so, you're speaking a completely foreign language. If that's you, go ahead and subscribe to this channel. And let me guess, if you're a teenager, having a parent try to relate to you in that tech space and it feels totally cringe.

00:00:26:22 - 00:00:46:18
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Go ahead and give me a like on this video. And if you're a youth pastor, just simply trying to bring the two sides together, well then you're in the right spot. Go ahead and turn the bell on. Because here in this video on the Hybrid Ministry show, what we're going to do is we are going to share. I'm going to share with you my parent and tech philosophy.

00:00:46:25 - 00:01:10:21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I'm also going to share with you five great questions that you can use to start with a family, to open up good discussion around technology. If you're a parent, I'm going to share with you my top three monitoring resources. And finally, stick around to the very end of the video because I'm going to share with you a worksheet that has not only those five good questions shared in this video, but some bonus questions that you can hop over and that you can download.

00:01:10:21 - 00:01:28:11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
My patrons get it for free. If you're a youth pastor, it's only $4 per month. You'll get all the worksheets that are included in this current playlist that's linked right here that we're in. We're now in part three of four of this parent tech and screens worksheet and playlist, where I'm sharing a worksheet in every single video. The patron.

00:01:28:18 - 00:01:50:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
The Patreon subscription is only $4 per month. And so that would cover all of these worksheets. And then some. Along with if you subscribe, you get a bonus podcast where I'm going to talk about what I'm doing weekly in my youth ministry, helping promote creativity, screen safety, hive and hybrid ministry. Welcome my friends to the show that's named after what I call it.

00:01:50:12 - 00:02:28:13
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Welcome to the Hybrid Ministry show. All right, so here's my philosophy around technology and screens, okay. The philosophy is very simply this. You just have to start having conversations around it, especially if you are concerned about your teens usage or you might be concerned down the road about it. Start the conversation earlier than you might want. Because here's the thing if you've downloaded either of my last two worksheets or the Digital Detox worksheet or the Feed Audit worksheet, well, you've got to come to understand is that both of those are set to help open up and promote a conversation between parents and between teenagers.

00:02:28:18 - 00:03:03:11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But if you're concerned about it, the way we as parents often handle it is we have some big, explosive sort of like come to Jesus reckoning moment where we think we did the job. But but the change often best happens, and the transformation takes place most naturally through ongoing conversations where the conversations feel less threatening, which is one of the reasons, especially in the last worksheet, where I encourage you as a parent to offer immunity because you may, as you're auditing some your son or daughter's feed, you may find things that you don't want, but because you're saying, hey, listen, it's going to be okay.

00:03:03:11 - 00:03:30:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
We're going to work through this together. You're offering them the ability to actually open up and have that conversation, which is ultimately what you're hoping. You're hoping that the conversation will lead to heart and life change and transformation over time, as opposed to just like adjusting and changing the behavior. That's just simply behavior modification. That's white knuckling it as opposed to genuine true heart change.

00:03:30:26 - 00:03:58:03
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
That's the goal of all pastors of of should be of all churches is definitely the goal of Jesus. And so lead with grace and understanding versus annoyance and constant frustration. And when you start with that, it hopefully will start to crack open the door towards honest conversations. And so with that philosophy as the foundation, as the backdrop of all of this, let's walk in to these five questions.

00:03:58:03 - 00:04:19:06
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And if you're here in a workshop, I want to encourage you after each question to just pause it and stop and let parents and teens have these conversations in rows, around tables or wherever, whatever your setting looks like. So the first question is this how does technology make our life better? I want you to I want to encourage you to think about things like perhaps like 360, right?

00:04:19:06 - 00:04:45:11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Like G.P.S. type tracking things, or even just GPS navigation in general. Being able to get from point A to point B, especially if you're in an unfamiliar place, maybe things like banking or keeping a shared calendar or grocery list, like, all right, think those types of things. In what ways do those things make technology better? If you're watching here in a workshop, go ahead, pause this video and I'll let you have a chance to discuss.

00:04:45:15 - 00:05:03:29
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But for the rest of us here on YouTube, I want you to now think and ask through this second question, which goes like this. How well do you think I and if you're a parent, I want to encourage you to ask this question. Being willing to be vulnerable, being willing to to, you know, put yourself out there in such a way.

00:05:04:03 - 00:05:29:10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
How well do you feel like I balance my screen time, right. And again, this is going to cause you and have to ask you to be a little bit vulnerable and maybe even during this section here, when you're having this discussion with your teen, I want to encourage you to maybe look up your current screen time reports. And if you're if you're not happy with or you're unsatisfied with what that says, I want to encourage you then to maybe set a goal for something new.

00:05:29:10 - 00:05:49:06
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So if you're watching this live, if you're having a discussion, go ahead, pause the video now. But for the rest of us, we're going to move on here to question number three, which is this. What is your most visited website or app and why? Right. And here's why. The and why part of this question helps you get a peek into their soul a little bit.

00:05:49:06 - 00:06:19:17
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
All right. Helps reveal their hobbies or their desires. Right. Like for me, what I would say one of the most like, visited things for me is, like Instagram. And the reason I like Instagram is because I have a heavy basketball algorithm and I'm a huge basketball fan. And so getting on there, I'm hoping that it will share with me, illuminate with me, give me interesting content around basketball and and doing that the and why part of that question right reveals to you that I enjoy watching basketball.

00:06:19:20 - 00:06:36:10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so the and why part of that question hopefully will help reveal on both sides student and parent what it is that they're into, what it is that they're actually looking for, what it is that their phone is feeding them, that they are finding so interesting. So go ahead, pause the video and take a minute to discuss that.

00:06:36:13 - 00:06:56:02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But for the rest of us, we're going to move on here to question number four, which is do you feel as a technology brings our family together or tears us apart? And again, I want to consider allowing this conversation to be a free flowing conversation. Let it have immunity, you know, don't get defensive regardless of what the answer is.

00:06:56:09 - 00:07:18:28
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Don't get defensive here. The other person side, right? I often use the phrase perception is reality. And so in this case allow their perception to be the reality. Don't argue it, don't fight it. But just let them say and speak their peace. So go ahead, take a minute. Have this discussion for the rest of us. We're going to move on here to question number five, which is this.

00:07:19:01 - 00:07:53:25
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Would you prefer more or less phone time personally? Would you prefer to have more or would you prefer to have less phone time again? Speak freely again. No judgment. Okay. But based on their answers, I want you to set a family goal to work on it together. Especially especially if you are saying you want to have less of it, then I want to encourage you to link down below my detox worksheet, which will give you five tips to work together better as a family to detox, you might have times that you're spending on screen, but once they're right now, link down.

00:07:53:25 - 00:08:16:13
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Below are the three tools is linked to a video. The three tools that I recommend you exploring for better screen usage, and perhaps even more restrictions on phones if that is something that you're looking to go towards. And so in that video, I debate between or a plus circle, I debate between the Bach, family of products, Bach phones and Bach monitoring.

00:08:16:20 - 00:08:40:16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then I also share with you my recommended resource called Covenant Eyes. And why I prefer to use Covenant Eyes is because it has constant screen monitoring. It is analyzing screenshots on a constant basis of every single thing that is being viewed on your screen. Right? Because the difference is, if it's just you URL based, you can sort of find workarounds to that look.

00:08:40:16 - 00:09:00:28
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Look at your teenager right now. If you're still in this workshop, they know that they can find workarounds to that. But if they want and you want to have a more holistic and a more robust monitoring system, Covenant Eyes will do that. And best yet, if you have an Android, it will do it on every single thing that is seen and is visible on your screen at any given time.

00:09:01:00 - 00:09:22:15
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Where an apple, it's only showing you what you're using inside the Covenant Eyes browser that simply just said their technology and their API type settings. And so if your son does have an iPhone as much as, the social capital will go down because you have to get them away from the blue bubbles. And Android is better for their long term purity and for your, perhaps, peace of mind.

00:09:22:15 - 00:09:55:11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so again, I want to thank you for watching this video. Listen, if you're a youth pastor, I want to encourage you to hop down the link on the show notes and grab this. This parent tech talks in this parent and teen tech talks worksheet and pass it out at a maybe a parent and tech workshop. Even go back and use this video to use it as a springboard for conversations where in this in this worksheet, it's going to allow both sides to kind of share their perspectives on technology usage, as well as offer a slew of other bonus questions.

00:09:55:11 - 00:10:14:01
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But linked right here in the fourth and final installment of this playlist is video. I'm titling from screen to scene, and we're going to talk about how to be more present in an always digital world. Thank you for sticking around for this entire video. And don't forget, my friends as always to stay hybrid.

📲Social Feed Audit Activity
https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry/shop/social-feed-audit-activity-for-parents-789323?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=productshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

DESCRIPTION
In this episode of Hybrid Ministry, we tackle the challenge of helping teens navigate their phones with purpose and wisdom.

• Discover three essential rules for using social media wisely
• A powerful resource to protect your teens from harmful online content
• and an interactive "Social Feed Audit" activity to spark meaningful conversations.

Don't miss the downloadable Social Feed Audit Activity—a practical tool for fostering healthier digital habits.

📓 SHOWNOTES
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/133

//Social Feed Audit Activity
https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry/shop/social-feed-audit-activity-for-parents-789323?source=storefront

//📥 DIGITAL DETOX FAMILY WORKSHEET [Episode 132]
https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry/shop/digital-detox-family-worksheet-763860?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=productshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

//3 MONITORING TOOLS
VIDEO: https://youtu.be/DWYvsn2Kglk?si=wayQHd1zQC09I6qg
TRY COVENANT EYES: https://covenanteyes.sjv.io/g1zVZA

👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry
Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz

--------------
🎉 FREE STUFF 🎉
We have all kinds of FREE Things that you can use in your context!
The best way to pay us back is a review or a YouTube Subscribe!
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--------------
🛠️TOOLS I USE THAT CAN HELP YOU!
Some of the below links are affiliate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products
VIDIQ
https://vidiq.com/hybrid

BEST DYM RESOURCES
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym

OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS & REELS
https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361

//YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit

//SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup

⌚TIMECODES
00:00 How to Clean Up Your Social Feeds
01:27 Rule #1
03:12 Rule #2
06:13 Rule #3
06:59 My Recommended Accountability Tool
08:06 Social Feed Audit Activity

--------------
TRANSCRIPT
00:00:00:12 - 00:00:25:24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Give me a like. If you've ever heard this argument about social media. Social media is just a bunch of people dancing. It's useless, right? You've probably heard that before. Parents. Pastors. Teachers. Teenagers. I once heard a pastor say, show me your bank account and it will reveal the desires of your heart. Well, I believe that in 2025 and beyond.

00:00:25:26 - 00:00:55:22
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Show me your algorithm and it will reveal the desires of your heart. You know the algorithms are so good. They're like, if that's what you see on your social media feed, that's probably what you are wanting to see. That's what you're hovering longer on this with the algorithm knows and is feeding you more of. And so in this video we're going to do is we're going to talk about how you can clean up your feed, how you can audit it, and how you can make it a type of feed that will honor God in the process.

00:00:55:23 - 00:01:14:13
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
We're going to share three rules for social media wisdom. I'm going to give you one resource that's going to help protect you and your team from what you see on your screens, as well as a downloadable worksheet for you to snag at the end. Or hit this QR code here at the bottom so that you can use it.

00:01:14:13 - 00:01:43:29
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
If you're a youth pastor. Download it. Share it with your parents. This is one of the best resources I think, that I have ever put together. Welcome my friends to the Hybrid Mr. Show. Hey everyone, welcome to the Hybrid Ministry Show. If you haven't had a chance to meet yet, my name is Nick Klassen. I've been youth ministry for 14 years and I have two boys, eight and six, who are squarely in Gen Alpha, and they are waving their way on up into this world of tech and screens and social.

00:01:43:29 - 00:02:04:28
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so in this video, I want to share with you three my three rules for social media. The first rule is this harmful social media, right? I think a lot of us have this understanding that social media is harmful, right? But I don't believe it's all harmful. I just believe that harmful social media is when you use it mindlessly, right?

00:02:04:29 - 00:02:28:10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
It's equals when you have a mindless use of it. And so what I want to encourage you to do is I want to encourage you to put parameters and rules around your screen and social usage. You know, if you didn't watch the last video, which is going to be linked right here, we went through five different tips to have more of a screen detox type of life in a quote always on world.

00:02:28:10 - 00:02:50:22
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And I don't you don't have to adopt those five rules. I just want to encourage you to have some rules, because when you use it mindlessly, when you use it without any barriers, without any parameters, that's where things get tricky. That's where things get dangerous. And that's where we start to see that addiction set in and people not able to make the right and smart type of choices that we're hoping that they can make in their life.

00:02:50:22 - 00:03:13:23
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Because social and technology has this sort of like, addictive, way of interacting with the neural pathways in your brain. And so that's why there needs to be a set of parameters that you place on yourself, and then maybe even you agree with with some other members of your family. The second rule that I have for you is just simply a question.

00:03:13:23 - 00:03:45:08
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Is it you or is it a AI? Right? Like I said earlier, show me your algorithm and I'll show you the desires of your heart. Let me give you a positive example of this in my own world. Right? So YouTube, we pay for premium YouTube at our house because my boys like to watch Minecraft videos on YouTube. And once I realized that this was something that was not going to go away, was that they were always going to want and desire and find themselves wanting to explore some of those Minecraft type videos on YouTube.

00:03:45:08 - 00:04:09:12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I realized I want to have a little bit more control over the ads or the or taking them away, right? So I pray I pay for premium YouTube. Now here's what's interesting on my account. This very account that you might even be watching this video on when when you log into YouTube on my TV, it's littered with Minecraft videos.

00:04:09:12 - 00:04:34:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Like that's almost all that the For You algorithm is sharing and showing on my television YouTube account. Switch over though, when I pull open my cell phone on YouTube because I myself also watch and use YouTube. All almost all it feeds me there is basketball content, all right. Or the types of, podcasts that I listen to on a regular basis.

00:04:34:26 - 00:04:55:15
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So it's even interesting to me is that it will show me videos that I've of, of channels that I've never even subscribed to, but that I've interacted with, that I've watched before, way before. It shows me videos of things that I'm subscribed to. Right? Which is why, like, I would love for you to subscribe if you haven't yet, please do so.

00:04:55:23 - 00:05:22:02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But if you haven't, if you just watch my videos, the algorithm is going to show my videos to you next time you log in, as opposed to just showing it to you just because you are a sort of like mindless, nameless subscriber. And so I share that to say the algorithm, the accounts, these social platforms, they're really powerful and they're also really smart.

00:05:22:02 - 00:05:48:20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so if you're not intentional with your use the AI, the algorithm is going to make decisions for you, right. And that YouTube example, that's a positive example. But let's just switch it to a negative example for a minute. If you're a boy, it's going to assume that you want to see girls on your social media. And if you're not careful, that I will continue to feed more and more and more of that.

00:05:48:24 - 00:06:08:11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Now, listen, I know that that sounds hopeless, and especially if you're a parent, you're like, well, that's exactly what I'm trying to get away from. Not all hope is lost, and I believe that social can be redeemed for good. You can manipulate your algorithm both positively and negatively, and we're going to get in that in just a minute.

00:06:08:11 - 00:06:38:18
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Because my third rule for social media is you need to have accountability. If you don't have an outlet to discuss, I want to encourage you to invite somebody into your life, especially if you are trending down that negative sort of algorithm pathway. Get yourself out of it. Ask somebody for help, throw for a lifeline, but then have a regular rhythm of conversation and a regular rhythm of accountability.

00:06:38:25 - 00:07:04:12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Set some goals and then ask somebody, as Paul David Tripp says, ask somebody to be intentionally intrusive in your life. Now, parents, the resource that I use, I use personally and that I recommend we talked about in a previous video, I'll link it down below. We talked about aura. We talked about Bach, but also the one that I like the most.

00:07:04:12 - 00:07:31:15
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And we that we talked about that. I also recommend is a service called Covenant Eyes. Okay. And what Covenant Eyes does is it installs on your phone. It's let's I'm just going to say some it might you might disagree with it. It's better on Android than it is on Apple. And the reason why is that it will run a constant screen monitoring in the background of your phone at every given moment on an Android.

00:07:31:17 - 00:07:59:08
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
On Apple, it only does it in the in the Covenant Eyes browser. But the nice thing about that, especially on Android, is that you know that if you can't watch every single thing on your kid's phone, you can log in as one of their allies is what they use the the language, the verbiage that they use. You can log in as one of their allies and view their screen activity and literally see snapshot after snapshot of what they're watching, of what they're viewing, of what is on their screen.

00:07:59:11 - 00:08:24:29
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so that's why I recommend that. And it's actually linked below in our social feed audit activity worksheet. And in this audit activity worksheet, what it's going to do is it's going to share with you 50 different social platforms to ask about right. Whether you have a great and wide open communication policy with your teenager, or whether it's a little bit more closed off, this will give you the resources.

00:08:24:29 - 00:08:50:03
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
This will give you a list of resources to ask about, right to inquire whether they have one, even if they don't know that they haven't, even if they're not trying to hide it from you, or even if they maybe are trying to hide it from you, and then you can go through and I recommend that you, offer immunity during this audit process, especially if your boy or daughter, is having a lot of things on their algorithm that you wouldn't approve of.

00:08:50:08 - 00:09:15:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But as you go through, you can audit and you can ask this question, does this honor God? And the good news is that most social medias offer the ability for you to, click something that says, I'm not interested in this and ask the algorithm to feed it to you less often. And so if you go through that activity with your son or with your daughter, you can you can help manipulate their algorithm and then pair that with a tool like Covenant Eyes.

00:09:15:14 - 00:09:45:20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You can add back in some constant screen accountability. And maybe you become an accountability person. Or maybe you ask them to invite somebody else into their life a trusted friend, mentor, or adult that can ask them the hard questions of what they're trying to do and the goals that they're trying to set on social media. But in this new year, in 2025, as screen usage and social media usage is becoming more and more prevalent and more and more prominent, I want this tool to be a way for you.

00:09:45:21 - 00:10:09:05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Whether you're a parent, whether you're a youth pastor dishing this out to some of your parents, I want you to be equipped with what it takes to start having this conversation about balancing, using what we use on social media so that you will scroll with purpose. And in the very next video, what I want to do is, I want to have you click here on screen, we are going to open up a conversation between parents and between students.

00:10:09:05 - 00:10:21:14
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And we're just simply calling the video tech talks equipping parents to talk to their digital natives. I'll see you over there in that video. But until next time. And as always, my friends stay hybrid.

📥Digital Detox Family Worksheet
https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry/shop/digital-detox-family-worksheet-763860?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=productshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

DESCRIPTION
Life today feels like it’s always "on," and teenagers are growing up in a world where there’s no escape from the constant digital noise—even at home. Inspired by Winston Churchill’s midday naps to reset his mental balance, this episode of the Hybrid Ministry Show explores how we can help teens—and ourselves—find moments of rest in an always-connected world. As a youth pastor with 14 years of experience, I’ve seen how the challenges of this generation differ from my own. In this video, I’ll share 5 practical tips for a healthier digital lifestyle, from screen-free meals to digital sabbaths. Plus, I’ll introduce the Digital Detox Family Challenge—a [free to Patrons] worksheet to help families reclaim their time and focus. Whether you’re a parent, teen, or youth pastor, join me for practical tools to build healthier habits.

📓 SHOWNOTES
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/132

//Churchill Article
https://fullfocus.co/naps/

//Bark & Aura+Disney vs. Covenant Eyes: An Honest Youth Pastor Review
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWYvsn2Kglk&t=160s

//Family Phone Lock Box
https://walmrt.us/3ZrChfI

👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry
Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz

--------------
🎉 FREE STUFF 🎉
We have all kinds of FREE Things that you can use in your context!
The best way to pay us back is a review or a YouTube Subscribe!
https://www.linktr.ee/clasonnick

--------------
🛠️TOOLS I USE THAT CAN HELP YOU!
Some of the below links are affiliate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products
VIDIQ
https://vidiq.com/hybrid

BEST DYM RESOURCES
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym

OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS & REELS
https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361

//YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit

//SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup

⌚TIMECODES
00:00 Rest for the Soul in an "Always On" World
02:37 The Technology Tension
04:34 Tip #1
06:50 Tip #2
07:45 Tip #3
08:59 Tip #4
10:17 Tip #5
11:57 Digital Detox Worksheet

--------------
TRANSCRIPT
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:00:10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Does

00:00:00:10 - 00:00:03:08
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
it feel like in life that you're just

00:00:03:08 - 00:00:07:27
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
always on? Like there's no break, there's no reprieve?

00:00:07:27 - 00:00:10:06
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Did you know, ironically,

00:00:10:06 - 00:00:21:19
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Winston Churchill, who was prime minister of Great Britain during World War One, fighting in at that time the world's greatest and biggest war, said this right. He regarded

00:00:21:19 - 00:00:33:14
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
his midday naps as, quote, essential for maintaining his mental balance, renewing his energy and reviving his

00:00:33:14 - 00:00:36:25
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
spirits as a youth pastor for 14 years.

00:00:36:26 - 00:00:44:10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
One thing that I've found that's unique about this generation of teenagers is that the cell phone has ushered in an era

00:00:44:10 - 00:00:48:15
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
where they never are able to turn it off.

00:00:48:15 - 00:01:05:25
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
The drama follows them home. Conversations with friends follows them home through group chats and Snapchat. And if they're not a part of it, then the tension or the fact that they're missing out might also be causing anxiety because while you as a parent may be taking their phone away from them, they

00:01:05:25 - 00:01:11:27
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
don't know what someone else might be saying about them or what other drama they are going to be missing out on.

00:01:12:03 - 00:01:25:23
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
When I was a kid, that wasn't an option. I was. I was able to go home, and home was able to be my safe spot. And my guess is, if you're a parent just like me, is that you're trying to help your, house be a

00:01:25:23 - 00:01:29:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
safe spot. And if you're a youth pastor, my guess is you're trying to help teens

00:01:29:09 - 00:01:30:27
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
navigate this anxiety.

00:01:30:27 - 00:01:35:24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But if you didn't grow up in this phenomenon of technology and digital, where you're

00:01:35:24 - 00:01:54:03
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
always on, you might not really truly understand what teenagers are going to. That's why if you're a parent, youth pastor, or teenager, I want to toss out five potential tips to help you drive towards a healthier digital lifestyle, and this is specifically aimed towards teenagers.

00:01:54:07 - 00:01:55:22
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
At the end of this video, I'm going to share

00:01:55:22 - 00:02:15:12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
with you my Digital Detox Family Challenge worksheet. The link is down below in the description. It is free for my Patreon community, so thank you if you are a part of that. If not just a few bucks. And in that resource there are two interactive family elements. So if you're a parent or a youth pastor, feel free to grab it and use it.

00:02:15:12 - 00:02:25:11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And youth pastor share it with your parents as a resource to help them towards a healthier digital lifestyle for their teenagers. And as always in the hybrid Ministry show,

00:02:25:11 - 00:02:37:21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
there are chapters down below at the bottom so that you can scrub ahead or back to whatever is most relevant to you. Welcome, my friends, to the Hybrid Ministry Show.

00:02:37:25 - 00:02:40:18
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Well everyone, welcome to the Hybrid Ministry Show. If you and I

00:02:40:18 - 00:02:55:25
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
haven't had a chance to meet yet, my name is Nick Clayson, and as I said in the intro, I'm a 14 year youth ministry veteran, but I'm also a parent of kids six, and eight years old. So they're in, squarely in that generation Alpha sort of time frame.

00:02:55:25 - 00:02:59:01
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And I see it on the horizon. I'm not quite there yet,

00:02:59:01 - 00:03:09:11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
but I've also navigated it with teenagers and youth ministry, for 14 years, obviously still relevantly, and currently helping teenagers Wade

00:03:09:11 - 00:03:10:04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
through and navigate

00:03:10:04 - 00:03:10:25
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
through this

00:03:10:25 - 00:03:30:10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
digital sort of tension. And so I think that's the biggest thing, right? Is this tension between should we completely abdicate digital or should we teach them how to how to handle it with integrity and with a hygiene that makes sense, and that's going to actually help them as they enter into this world of adulthood and more responsibility.

00:03:30:10 - 00:03:48:11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You see, as older generation like myself and even people older than us, a lot of times the mentality is like, your phone is the enemy, just get rid of it, throw it in the lake, throw it in the river and be that as it may, and that might even be the case. Like it might not even it might be something that's dangerous and bad and not helpful to you.

00:03:48:11 - 00:04:07:07
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Right. We they're not going anywhere. That's the hard thing is cell phones and technology. It's not going anywhere. The dial is only getting cranked up more and more and more. And so we're constantly living in this tension of what we want. Like, do we want to be Laura Ingalls Wilder and living out on the prairie versus like, being someone fully immersed in tech,

00:04:07:07 - 00:04:09:16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
but knowing like, that's probably not good for us.

00:04:09:16 - 00:04:13:06
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And we can also see and know the effects of it. And you got to remember, tech is

00:04:13:06 - 00:04:29:28
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
still in its infancy in a lot of ways. And so some of these long term effects brain and and anxiety and mental health, like we don't even know what or how much or if any of it affects us. And so here are five tips to help you and your family navigate through detoxing,

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
digital and finding balance in this quote.

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Always on world. Tip

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
one

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
is potentially consider setting app time limits. You know I've done this in the past. I don't currently have them set

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
on on my phone. And honestly, the reason behind that is because I'm I'm lazy, right? And I'm not practicing what I'm preaching. But in the past I have set app limitations for things like social media apps that I might scroll more endlessly on.

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And here's what you got to understand in my current role

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
and job. Like one of my main and primary responsibilities is social media management, content creation and content posting. And so it's made it tricky for me because I can't just say I'm never going to be on Instagram, I'm never going to be on YouTube, or I'm never going to be on TikTok, because that's a key component of our youth ministry strategy.

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so I'd put like a 15 minute or 30 minute time limit on those apps

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
so that I could get on. So that I could post so that I could engage with comments, with anyone who's maybe interacted with our content. But then when that 30 minute or 15 minute time limit came to an end on any one of those apps, that would be it for the

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
day.

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Now, of course, my phone offers me right, like more opportunities to, like add more time, add more time. And so like, I would just kind of do that mindlessly and until eventually to the point where I just like would turn it off because I was on vacation or something. And then of course, I haven't gone back, you know, to turn those things back on.

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But consider that potentially for your, your teen or your tween or, whoever in your house might be, trying to navigate this balance between work and life and social and digital and screens and all of these things. And, linked right here is actually my review of the best parenting apps for 2025 and beyond. And so it's, conversation between, the Bach phone or a plus Circle by Disney or Covenant Eyes.

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
All three have very different kind of approaches to parental controls and stuff like that, but all three are useful and helpful and beneficial. I give my honest youth pastor take and review, but, feel free to go against my opinion on that. Do whatever works best for you and for your family, but maybe consider setting time limits as a way to help balance this always on world.

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Tip number two is what if you turned your phone on to grayscale mode, right? There's a feature. My wife and I

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
both did it. And we turned our phones onto grayscale mode, and it was honestly disorienting. And what it does is it's meant to sort of help reduce, sort of those brain chemicals that cause you to be more addicted to your screen.

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so when you're on it, it's like,

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
you don't like it. Like I remember just absolutely hating it. And I hated looking at my phone. I hate doing all these things. But like, it was helpful because, time limits are force restrictions. Grayscale mode turns down the desire to just continue to be on my phone and continue to be on there mindlessly scrolling, mindlessly scrolling endlessly like it made me want to actually get off of it.

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So consider that as an option. Turn on grayscale mode on your phone. Tip number three as a family, what if you created screen free meals? What if once a day you as a family, committed to the discipline of having screen free meals? What if maybe maybe meals don't work? What if you chose, and reclaim some of your time as a family to have a one phone free time per day?

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Maybe that feels daunting and impossible. Then maybe just start at one phone

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
free time per week where everybody, including the parents, puts their phones away and you engage in one on 1 or 1 on many human discussion at the dinner table, or a family outing, or a family movie night or something like that, where you are phone free, free from distractions.

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You're you're doing something together and reengaging relationally as a family. And you can even, you know, buy something linked down below, like a phone locker or a phone jail where everyone's phones go in, you know, for a set amount of time, and it doesn't open up until it's over and, you know, emergencies or whatnot. Like if you do it for an hour, even if there is an emergency within that hour, your phone will still tell you at the end of that hour and you'll be able to, you know, handle it as you need to.

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But it would be a good discipline for you and your family to try,

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
dialing it up even, a little bit more of a notch from screen free meals. What if you considered a

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
digital

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Sabbath? New Sabbath is an Old Testament term and word for taking a break, you know? So, like in the Rhythm of creation,

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
you look at, the biblical account of creation.

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
God, created the earth in six days. But then on the seventh day, he rested. And you and I, like those of us who go to church like we know that God didn't need rest, right? Like God, God modeled that for Adam and Eve, and it's it's interesting if you think about it. God created man and woman on the sixth day, and then the seventh day he rested.

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so Adam and Eve's very first day of being created and being on this earth, they also two not only saw God rest, but they were experiencing that that version of Sabbath. And so what if with your phones, what if with technology, what if you created a quote, digital Sabbath of sorts, perhaps, like on a Saturday or Sunday or like a Friday night to a Saturday afternoon?

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Like it doesn't have to be one full day. It could be like after work in school on, like a Friday. And then it goes to like a certain time on Saturday, where again, you as a family, maybe throw your phone in one of those boxes and you commit to not, you know, to not being on devices, not being on screens for a certain period of time.

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then the fifth and final tip that I have for you here, to to engage in a healthier balance of an always on world is what if you just chose to charge your phone, not in your bedroom? I say charge your phone in your kitchen. First of all, you know, you need to know those emfs coming off your phone like they're

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
bad for you.

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
It literally says it in the terms and conditions on your phone, so don't be right next to it while it's charging. Put it somewhere else, not only for your physical health, but also for your mental health, so that when you're in bed, you're in bed, maybe read, maybe, you know, actually go to sleep, but don't find yourself in there doomscrolling.

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But consider that as an option or discipline. Parents included kids as well, but keep those things out of rooms. Now just say again 14 year youth ministry veteran. Like, one of the things I've found, especially for teenagers, is gotta get those phones out of their rooms, behind closed doors, and in those privacy private moments. That's where a lot of like, bad decisions might happen.

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You know, like at summer camp for us, we collect everyone's phone and we charge it in a central spot in the room. They have access to it if their parents call whatever alarms. But we take them from them because we've found that it lights out when kids have phones. That's when shenanigans often happen. And so we take that away.

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And that's just that's just a rule, right? Like we don't confiscate phones for the whole week, but we do collect them and house them, so to speak, and like a cell phone collection location in order to help with behavior, to help with sleep, to help with a lot of different things. And so what if, as the fifth tip, that was something that you and your family committed to charging your phone away from the bedroom.

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So you might be thinking like, well, now what do I do? Great. I'm glad you asked. Like I said at the beginning, I have, link down below the Digital Detox Family Challenge worksheet. You can go grab that. It's over on my Patreon is $3, but if you want to become a Patreon for $4 a month, you will not only get every one of these resources that I'm giving away over on that site, but you'll also

00:12:16:15 - 00:12:18:10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
get a weekly bonus

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
podcast.

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And if you're in youth ministry,

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I'm just talking through what I do every week, and I'm giving creative ideas to help you lean into digital, but also handle it with care and integrity and dignity. And so

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
there's a couple of discussion prompts for families and a couple of action steps. And so I would say if you're in youth ministry, this would be a very well, spent $3 to share out in an email newsletter to parents to just encourage them, you know, to try, digital detox with their family, to work through and think through three or, I'm sorry, five different sort of tips to help them in their families.

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So, link here on screen is the next video in this series, called

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
scroll with Purpose teaching teens to use phones wisely in this digital age and in this digital world. I'd love to have you check that out. If you're here on YouTube, give us a like a rating, a subscribe. All those things really, truly help us out to be found in search.

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Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But until next time. And as always, my friends, I just want to encourage you to stay hybrid.