American Family Radio thanks sponsor, PreBorn for supporting pro life initiatives

Dr. Jessica Peck: We would like to take a moment to thank our sponsor, PreBorn. When a mother meets her baby on ultrasound and hears their heartbeat, it's a divine connection and the majority of the time she will choose life. But they can't do it without our help. PreBorn needs us, the pro life community, to come alongside them. One ultrasound is just $28. To donate, dial pound 250 and say the keyword BABY or visit PreBorn/AFR hello and welcome to the Dr. Nurse Mama show prescribing Hope for healthy families here on American Family Radio. Here's your host, professor, pediatric nurse practitioner and mom of four, Dr. Jessica Peck.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Well hey there friends and welcome to my favorite time of day and my favorite day of the week. It is another fry.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Yay.

Dr. Jessica Peck: And we're right in the middle of July. So glad you're joining us today. We're we are right in the middle of talking about healthy tech habits for family. If you have joined since January, you know that we started talking about four core spiritual disciplines. We talked about six rhythms that you need, eight communication habits, and we're right in the middle of some really important habits that every family needs to have on technology. Now it doesn't matter your age or your family stage. It doesn't matter if you have littles, if you have teenagers, if you have Green children, if you have no children. These habits are are for every family of every life stage because technology is rapidly becoming a norm. And we as an American people, I am convinced are somewhat asleep at the wheel here looking at the impacts and we are just letting the tech industry change the ways that we interact with our family and we are doing it without even any intentional thought. And so when we look at the habits that we have talked about in technology, we've talked about a lot of really important things. But The Core habits that we've talked about are creating tech free zones. We've talked about tech free times, having times in your day that are protected. We've talked about intentionally tracking your tech and giving you some accountability to how you really are spending your time and how most of us have at least a part time job looking at a screen that is not related to the means of our livelihood or anything really legitimate as much as we tell ourselves otherwise. We also talked about transparency and technology use and tidying up our tech so that it's not such a pull.

Being intentional with your technology use is becoming a default reflex

And today we're going to pick up with this week's habit, which is tech on purpose, being intentional with your technology use. Psalm 90, verse 12 calls us to number our days. Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts. And that is one thing that tech is taking away. It is being less and less intentional and more of a default reflex. And that's not okay. Now, technology can be a wonderful tool. It's sold to us as a tool that will make our lives easier, that will make our relationships more connected. But it is really a terrible default way to live. And wise families don't just limit technology and focus on being the screen Beless and let's get it out of our lives. Although we have talked about ways to do that. But one of the habits that we need to have alongside that is giving every click, every scroll, every screen a purpose. That is really important because we often think technology changes our lives in dramatic ways. We think it's going to be this big fix that is just going to change the way that we do our daily lives. But really the greatest influence is the subtle things that we Jon Wriley think about. Most of us don't wake up thinking, okay, what do I have to do today? Allie got to go to work. I've got to get the kids to school. I've got to run this errand, I've got to pay this bill. Oh, and I've also got to spend four hours on social media. Make sure that I do that. We don't intend to do that. We don't wake up thinking that we don't put it on our calendar. Oh, make sure you have two hours of doom scrolling. You know, make sure you look at all of these apps and respond to every notification. Instead, technology really quietly fills those blank spaces in between in our lives, when we're waiting in line, when we're standing in the elevator, when we're riding in The Core as a passenger, you often don't think, oh, I'm going to engage with in conversation with the person who's driving. You think, oh, I'm going to check my phone. We even scroll during commercial breaks or if you're waiting for an appointment, next time you're in any waiting room, look around. Almost everybody is going to be with their head down scrolling on their phone. If you're sitting at a practice for sports or for band or for art or for whatever, even before we get out of bed, the last thing before we go to sleep, during meals, while we're watching television, we may have multiple screens on. And just before falling asleep, we have become uncomfortable as a people with any empty moments of silence. And instead of allowing that Stillness, that reflection, that prayer, that conversation, or just simply the skills of observation, we just instinctively reach for a screen. If you're bored, grab your phone. Are you lonely? Grab your phone. Are you tired? Grab your phone. If you're feeling awkward socially up, grab your phone. Are you just waiting and impatient? Grab your phone. Are you stressed? Grab your phone. Are you sad? Grab your phone. Are you Krissy about anything? Just grab your phone. Technology has become less of a tool and more of an automatic reflex for people and for families. Now this matters spiritually because again, as I read to you in the beginning, Psalm 90 reminds us that our days are numbered and time is one of the most precious gifts that God has given us. And we are to Stuart the minutes that we have in the day. And when Moses wrote this psalm, as we think that he did, he's not encouraging better scheduling, he's encouraging wiser living. Because every moment is a stewardship opportunity. And technology isn't just stealing our time, it is stealing our attention. And attention. What we give attention to shapes what or who we have affection for. Whatever consistently captures our attention starts to shape our hearts. And this is why I'm, issuing a wake up call, because I think we're just doing this without even thinking. We have such passive consumption of technology. It's reshaping our lives and we're not even noticing. We're asleep at the Allie here. Because technology is designed to engage you and not to disciple you, to form you, to complete you, as you may have heard in popular culture. But the truth is digital platforms are intentionally designed this way. This has been one of the key points of some of the lawsuits that have come against social media, not for the content that they produce, but for the design they engage. They're intentionally designed without any stopping point. There's no bottom, there's no stop. There's infinite scrolling, there's autoplay to lead you to the next video, to the next personalized, hyper personalized recommendations, endless notifications. And now with AI, we have content that is driven by the algorithm that is designed to please you, to give you more of what you want to see. There's always one more video, one more article, one more post, one more notification. And technology is answering one question. Technology platforms think their one main driving business question is how do we engage people on the platforms for longer? Not how do we help them. They may say that in their marketing and their advertising, but really they're looking for engagement because that gives them the most opportunity. That's the attention economy. And the truth is, as we talked about in tech tracking, we Cardel underestimate our usage. The average American spends about four to five hours a day on a smartphone and adults average seven hours of screen media daily across devices. Now you might say, oh well of course that's work. No, this study in particular excluded work related use and there are many studies that do. So we are really having almost a full time job looking at screens. Teens in particular average 8 to 9 hours of entertainment screen media per day. That does not include schoolwork. And Americans check their phones between 100 and 150 times a day. This is wild to think about. And even these brief micro checks are micro disconnections in relationship. They interrupt our attention, they reduce our productivity, and so we're not losing our lives all at, once to technology. It's just these tiny repeated micro moments where we're not being intentional, where we have passive consumption. Now when we're being purposeful, we say, okay, I opened my phone for this specific task to accomplish this specific thing. But passive use says, I don't even know why I picked it up. I just picked it up out of habit. Like I just had empty hands and a couple of minutes and so I just picked it up. Now if we're using technology purposefully, we're paying bills, we are video chatting grandparents, we are looking up a specific recipe, we're engaging in an online bible study, we're looking for directions to a specific place, we're ordering groceries online. Passive consumption means I'm just scrolling and scrolling and scrolling and following down recommendation rabbit holes. The for you page. For you, for you, for you. We're watching videos just because they're next, not because we're intentionally seeking out a video on that specific content or teach us a skill or to encourage us. It's just, hey, that's what happened when my thumb moved up. You're reading comments for 30 minutes now. Some of those, I admit, are very, very entertaining, very engaging.

 Technology itself is not the problem. It's mindless consumption

Some of them are just sad. Sometimes we're just checking an app with no clear objective, just seeing what is up. Technology itself though, is not the problem. It's the mindless consumption that we have been acculturated to engage in. Now families are up against it today. Before we start beating ourselves up and really going down the guilt trip, let's really acknowledge the forces at work against us. Because there is an invisible pull constantly attracting us, pulling us back to mindlessness. Technology use, that's what they want. They want impulse buys. One of the most important things that families can understand is that we're not just competing with screen time. It's all of the conversation has been about screen time. But in professional circles, for pediatrics, for families, we're really moving away from being the screen time Beless and really moving towards engaging in something alternative and something else. Not just, okay, limit screen time, but okay, what do you do? We've forgotten what to do or how to interact or how to be when we're not on a screen. But the truth is we're competing with one of the most sophisticated attention industries that was ever created. Because technology companies aren't just making products. Gone are the days of the Sears Roebuck calendar that would come in, oh no, am I going to talk about Christmas here again? Maybe the wish book. Okay, I'll just slide that in there. But any catalog that comes to your house, you look at the product, you circle that, you call the phone number and say, I want item number two for that. Okay, you know what that is. But really now online, what we're competing with is experiences that are built to capture and hold and most importantly, monetize your attention. It's called the attention economy. I've talked about it before. It's not. Your time isn't just valuable. It is now the product that is being Patti and sold and auctioned off to the highest bidder. The longer that you're engaged, The Core ads you see, The Core data that people can collect that pro, that platforms can connect and The Core profitable you become. And the attention economy does work against us. When we look at social media and streaming services and gaming platforms and news apps, they're competing for that limited resource, that product that we have to sell and it's our attention and we're giving away without even thinking about it. Well, our families honestly are competing for that.

Jeff Chamblee: Now.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Many digital products are intentionally designed with very persuasive technology. These are, features rooted in behavioral psychology and these that encourage repeated use. We know how to do that. So companies are marketing and monetizing that we have infinite scrolling and autoplay and personalized recommendations, streaks, Lexie engagement strategies. These reduce natural stopping points and give us little hits of feel good chemicals in our brain every time it happens. And when we see lots of interviews in the media from former tech and insiders or behavioral scientists and they publicly acknowledge that, yes, these platforms are engineered to make disengaging more difficult, especially for kids and teens whose brains are still developing that executive function and impulse control. You're not imagining it. It really is hard to put down your phone. It is much harder than it was 10 years ago. And so when Brandice beat themselves up or we beat ourselves up because we feel like failures, we have to acknowledge the forces against us. Now technology has become just the default filler of time. That's the greatest shift. Not that we're using technology more. It's because of how and why we're using it. Every pause in life is an opportunity now to consume more content. So instead of waiting or wondering or observing or praying or talking or just resting, you just instinctively reach for a device. That's why. And that habit has become so automatic that many people unlock their phones without even a conscious decision. Face identification makes that even easier. It's one less step and then you forget and you're really pulled into that. Now here is the sobering thing though. Children are learning this rhythm from adults and we often criticize kids and teens, but they are learning it from us. What they consistently see is adult filling every empty space with a screen. And they assume that's what waiting Lexie like. That's what resting Lexie like. That's what connecting Lexie like. So how is that changing childhood? And what can we do about it? I'll tell you more right after this break. Don't go away. Come back and I'll tell you more about engaging in tech on purpose. We'll see you in a minute.

An ultrasound provided by PreBorn helped Candace hear her unborn baby's heartbeat

 : Candace talks about finding out she was pregnant. Thankfully, an ultrasound provided by PreBorn allowed her to hear her baby's heartbeat. The sonogram sealed the deal for me. My baby was like this tiny little spectrum of hope and I saw his heart beating on the screen and knowing that there's life growing inside. I mean that sonogram changed my life. I went from just Candace to Mom. Thank you. To everybody that has given these gifts, you guys are giving more than money. You guys are giving love.

 : PreBorn currently has clinics that do not have ultrasound machines. Would you consider a leadership gift and sponsor a machine today? These life Saving machines cost $15,000 more than most centers can afford. Your donation will save countless lives for years to come. Dial 250 and say the keyword baby or go to preborn.com/AFR

Dream Small by Josh Wilson: It's a mama singing songs about the Lord It's a daddy spending family time the world says he cannot afford. These simple moments change the world It's a pastor at a tiny little church 40 years of loving on the broken and the hurt these simple moments change the world Dream small don't buy the light We've gotta do it all Just like Jesus Just use you where you are one day at a time. live well, loving God and others as yourself. Find little ways where only you can help with his great love. A tiny rock can make a giant fall. Dream small.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back, friends. That is Dream Small by Josh Wilson. That song makes me smile.

On this Friday, we're talking about healthy habits for families

On this Friday, when we're talking about healthy habits for families, and we're right in the middle of talking about tech on purpose. Now, that may seem like a big dream, but I'm asking you to dream small, just like Josh Wilson just did. And, we are looking for small moments where we can be intentional about using our technology. We use it as a default. And so often older generations, millennials and above, we love to criticize the that younger generations engage with tech. But the truth is, we're really not a great example. And we have learned to fill the waiting space. And I'm talking all the way up to grandparents, because grandparents do it too. I'm just going to call it out. We all do it. We all, I think, would say, yeah, I wish I was a better example. I wish I had a little more discipline. I probably have some ways that I can use tech better. Come on, let's all be honest in that. But one of the ways that we can really change being habit minded is to be intentional, have engage with tech with a purpose, not just as a default. Because when children especially see adults filling every empty space with a screen, they think that's what we're supposed to do. And as a result, we see many children who are less comfortable with boredom, with delayed gratification, with uninterrupted conversation. You can see this on display in any restaurant you go to. You will see any waiting area, any theme park, anywhere where there's kids, any grocery store. And you see Brandice engaging in something called digital soothing. Because anytime they have any uncomfortable emotion now, kids are more outward with their emotion. They're gonna lay on the floor and, you know, kick their arms and legs. They may scream, they may cry, they may protest. It's all the things that adult adults feel inside. But we've just learned and become more socially conscious. We feel those things, but we just don't express them the same way. But the principle is the same. We have trained ourselves as a society to be totally intolerant of any uncomfortable emotion and to fill it with digital space. Now, when we look at things like imaginative play for kids or quiet reflection or the joy of being bored, these aren't just childhood experiences. They're important building blocks for creativity, for emotional regulation, for resilience. And for spiritual formations. Now, previous generations, we did learn originally to use technology primarily to connect with a person. Now, if some of you can remember even the days of switchboards, you had to go through an operator that wasn't even additional person that you had to interact with before you talk to another person on the other end of the phone. But today we pick up up our phones with absolutely no person in mind. And many times, even when we're engaging with customer service, it's no longer people, it is AI assistance. And we just consume whatever the algorithm feeds us. And it may even be generated by AI and not even have any people involved. And when we look at the way that the phone was used to be used, it was designed to strengthen relationships. But today many platforms are designed just to maximize engagement. It's not to strengthen relationships. Relationships, when you had a phone call with a person, it did require some people skills like participation and active listening and good conversation. Scrolling requires very little of us, except your fixed eyes and your moving thumb. That's pretty much it. And in the past, technology interrupted solitude with relationship. You would call somebody and talk to somebody, ask somebody to come over, do something. And today it actually interrupts relationships with solitude. It's completely backwards. Now we have technology in interrupting and engaging, intersecting with a relationship and, and interrupting that. Families who once gathered around a, shared television or a household phone, now you just retreat into your own hyper personalized digital world. And even though we have more ways to connect than ever, more people feel lonely. And that is not what technology promises. That's not what the platforms promise. They promise connection, really, while providing a digital, digital disconnection. So the challenge isn't just the screen time, the amount of technology we use, but how we use it. Are we being intentional to let it draw us further into meaningful relationships or further toward disconnection? So that is something to think about, because the way that technology was used in previous generations connected. Now it disconnects with a goal of Constans engagement. These platforms Care Net measuring their success by how good you feel, whether they improved your day. They just want to know if you stayed. That's it. That's the bar. Every additional minute, every second Candace And so that means families are living in a culture where countless companies are just investing enormous resources into answering just how do we keep them engaged just a little longer, Just a little longer. Let's push it out a little further. And this is in contrast to families who are saying, how can we help our family to be wise and loving and self controlled and present and disciple Them towards being like, Christ. These two things are Assell in conflict. These goals are pulling us in opposite directions, but we're not being intentional about stopping it. So it's not about fearing technology, feeling guilty every time you check your phone, being the screen Beless making sure you have very strict limitations in your home. And you, you call out and shame everybody who violates that norm. It's just recognizing that if you don't wake up and be intentional about how technology fits into your lives, someone else is deciding that for you. Healthy families Care Net drifting towards intentional relationship. They drift toward distraction and disconnection and discontentment. Purpose requires planning. Presence requires practice of being present. Because we have learned that we don't even know how to be present anymore. Let's have a conversation. Okay, well, that went for like two minutes. I feel awkward. Shall we just watch something together? Okay. Wisdom asks by just one simple question before you unlock the screen. Why am I using this right now?

Technology has become so normal that we don't notice it anymore

Why did I pick up my phone? Why did I pick up my computer? Why am I opening it? What am I doing? Why am I using this technology? That's the question. And that greatest danger isn't just that technology is distracting it. It's just that distraction has become so normal that we barely even notice it anymore. It doesn't bother us at all. And families who flourish aren't going to be the ones with the newest high tech, whatever it is. They're the ones who remain intentional enough to use technology, but keep it in its proper place as, ah, a tool that serves their values rather than a force that is reshaping them. Because these empty, blank spaces, what we used to do in the blank space was we were creative. We prayed, we watched other people around us, we engaged in conversation. We were reflective and we just thought about things. We thought about things we were thankful for. We daydreamed, we processed our emotions. Our brains need that margin. Silence is not wasted time. That is where the Lord grows wisdom in us. It's where we leave space to hear his voice. And with every quiet, quiet moment of technology, when every quiet moment belongs to technology, we're going to miss important things, little micro moments. I'm talking about a kid's story from the day, your spouse's story, about something that happened, something that bothered them, something they celebrated. You're going to miss God's prompting, the Holy Spirit telling you to pick up the phone and call someone, to reach out to someone, to pray about, something, to connect with someone. You'll miss a creative idea. You'll miss an opportunity to encourage someone you'll miss. Rest and wonder and gratitude and all of those things. Where our attention goes determines what our experience is. And we can't experience what we're not even noticing, what we're too distracted to notice. And so think about when are you most likely to reach for your phone without thinking? What emotion usually triggers you to pick up your phone? Those are things you can ask your family about. Because sometimes it's hard for us to be self aware. Oh, but your family will tell you, oh, this is exactly when you scroll. This is when you're on your phone the most. Oh, this is when you check out. And that can be a hard question to ask, but the hope in this is that the goal isn't less technology. The goal is not elimination of technology because that is impossible. It's stewardship. And we can Stuart technology. But who's deciding when you engage? Is it you or is it the notification? Is it the pull of the scroll? And so again asking, why am I using this technology right now? Why are we streaming media? Are we watching something together to experience some fun as a family? That can be certainly purposeful. Are we wanting to learn a lesson? Are we wanting to share something from our childhood? Those can be reasons to stream something, but is it just? Just I don't feel like doing anything else and I don't want to face my life in the laundry that's waiting for me in the other room. If you can't answer, why am I using this right now? What purpose does this have? Then put it down. Put the phone down. Close the computer. Just that pause can interrupt automatic behavior. We've got to replace it, not just remove it. Because behavior science shows that habits are replaced more successfully then they are eliminated. It's much better to replace it with something else. If you just eliminate it, that just makes everybody miserable and you go right back to it. So don't just remove scrolling, replace it with something better. And so things that you can do instead. Okay, I'm gonna pray, I'm gonna read my Bible. That sounds so cliche, but that is what you should be doing. You can intentionally text encouragement to a friend or family member. You can stretch or move your body, body, step outside, touch grass. Those things are important. You can play with your kid. You can talk to your spouse. You can read a book. You can listen to worship music. You can just sit quietly. You can try a new recipe. You can clean out something that you've been meaning to clean out for a long time. Being intentional also doesn't mean always Being productive. Don't hear me say that. That, you got to fill it with busyness. Sometimes the purpose is rest. Hey, I need to rest. I just need to check out for a little while and not on my phone. I need to sit outside in the sunshine. I just need to take a walk. I just need to take a nap. Those things. But I m. Need to go to bed early. I need to. I'm gonna watch. Maybe purposeful rest is I'm going to watch this movie with my family.

Rest is with purpose. So instead of making the question, how much screen time can I have

I'm reading because it's refreshing. I'm enjoying music. I'm laughing. I'm relaxing. Sometimes Rest is with purpose. I need a day to rest. I just need a day where I'm doing nothing. That's intention. That's purpose. We need to teach this to our families. So instead of making the question, how much screen time can I have? How much screen time can you have? It is, what is the purpose? Why do you want the screen time? What purpose are you going to accomplish with this? And when we teach our families to distinguish between creating something and consuming it, learning something versus escaping something, connecting with someone instead of comparing ourselves to someone, serving others versus being served through entertainment, these are the mindset shifts that are going to lead us to discipleship. So before unlocking your phone, pause. Just pause for a minute. Maybe you even take the facial recognition off just to give you a moment to put in your password, to think. How many times a day am I putting my password into? Open. Open this phone or the screen? Maybe it's just a television that you need to turn off. Maybe you think, I don't have a phone. Maybe it's a tv. Maybe it's something else that's distracting you. Just ask, okay, why am I going to my device now? What am I hoping this will accomplish? How long am I intending to stay? when I'm finished, I'm going to put it down, and if I can't do it, I'm going to ask someone to hold me accountable and not get angry with them. When they say, okay, your time is up. Up. You can. There's a lot of things that you can do to be intentional. Like maybe you schedule intentional scrolling. Maybe you really like watching funny social media reels. Okay, great. Give yourself half an hour during the day. This is like, instead of watching a show, this is my intentional scrolling time. Set a timer and stick to it. Leave your phone behind. I know this is really radical, but leave your phone behind when you do a short errand so you're not tempted to Grab it especially while you're driving. That's a big no no. Just create margin moments where you have no device there. Protect maybe your morning or your bedtime from that automatic scrolling or phone use. Replace one scrolling session each day with a face to face conversation. Because technology can strengthen families when it's used intentionally. When we use it to read scripture together or have reminders for prayer request or video call distant relatives or we research family vacations, we learn a new skill serve others. We listen to Christian media together much like some of you are doing today. You watch faith building content together. Purpose can transition the same device to be a tool and not a taskmaster. And so this week, every time you reach for your phone, just ask why am I using this right now? Why am I reaching for this device? Don't judge yourself. Just notice and answer that question honestly. Because awareness, awareness is, is what precedes change. Being aware of it is half the battle, more than half the battle. And you may discover the times that you weren't choosing technology, you were just letting technology choose you. So there are some things that you can do to reduce your mindless consumption here. Here's some just practical, practical tips. Clear the noise. Go back to the tech tidying. Turn off any non essential notifications or badges. Remember re leave the group text that are non essential. Like just say okay. Thanks so much for inviting me. I will exit now. Remove those easy triggers. Move the social media apps off of your home screen so that it's not so easy to get to log out of apps that you just open mindlessly to give you that moment to pause or delete any apps that you haven't used in the last 30 days. You can also set purposeful boundaries. Boundaries just that intentional check times like this is the time of day I check my email or my social media. Don't open the apps during transitions like bedtime, waking up meals and just use a simple rule. If I don't know why I'm opening it, I don't just walk away. If it's not the time for me to scroll, I'm just gonna walk away. I know that sounds wild, but you can do it. When you come back, I'll tell you a little more about and I'll have some home front headlines. See you on the other side of this break.

 : Pastor Erwin Lutzer from the American Family Studios documentary the God who Speaks When

Pastor Erwin Lutzer: Paul said to Timothy, preach the word, what Paul was saying is everything that you teach in the church has to be rooted in scripture. Now I believe very strongly that it has to be rooted in scripture. It has to be applied to each generation. So the applications may change, but the basic doctrines, the teachings have to be the foundation of everything that we preach. So it's not a matter of human ideas. It is actually a matter of being committed to the integrity of scripture, studying it in context so that we can say with authority that what we are teaching is based on God's word, not our ideas, nor our word.

 : Visit thegodwhospeaks.org.

You've Already Won by Shane & Shane: No matter what comes my way, I will overcome. Don't know what you do but I know what you done and I'm fighting a battle you've already won.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back, friends. That is, you've already won by Shane and Shane and, what a great message for us today because one of the biggest battles facing families today is the battle of technology. You know it well, you know it causes battles in your home. It can cause battles between parents and kids, between husbands and wives, between grandparents and grandkids. Everybody's fighting about how we use technology, and everybody's fighting for each other's attention. Now, the good news is that God has equipped us for such a time as this. And although we may be facing new technology applications, the heart issues behind all of these things have not changed. Solomon Assell said once, there's nothing new under the sun, and it is true. And today's habit that we've been talking about is tech on purpose, being intentional with your tech use. And so just a few last words of encouragement here. Create some of the good kind of friction instead of the bad friction that happens, the relational friction over technology use and screen time. Create some friction that is for your good. Now, how do you do this? This is creating ways to make a pause before you open your phone. Now, I know again, things like face, facial recognition technology, they're supposed to make it so easy. You just look at your phone and it pops right open. But it also takes away some of that intentionality. So maybe for a time, you put back on your password, you create friction that's going to give you a little friction in getting on that device, give you a pause. Maybe you can go to your settings and turn off autoplay so that you're not tempted just to scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll. Maybe you remove your password for a high distraction app so that you have to put it in there again. Or you use a grayscale mode, something that's just going to slow your roll on that device just a little bit to replace the reflex and then have some activities already queued up for what you're going to do instead. When you're tempted to reach for your phone, reach for that book that you have on your nightstand with the bookmark in place so that you know where your place is. Maybe you have you're going to step outside, you already have a path decided for where you're going to take a walk instead when you're tempted, maybe you have specific pray that you're going to pray scriptures are going to memorize people you're going to encourage instead a list of people that you'll send a meaningful text to or someone you'll engage with in the room, a project that you've been putting off. Have those intentional things even make a list of them and say okay, these are things I can do instead of scrolling. This is an important family reset rhythm that you can have. That tech tidying is going to help decrease your distractions and talk about it. Those are important. Technology is naturally going to to expand unless you intentionally contain it. And passive consumption is reshaping your attention, your relationships and your spiritual lives. Recognizing that and accepting the fact that every moment you spend on technology spending, thinking about that word spending has really been resonating with me a lot. I only have so many minutes to spend in this world and I'm spending them just giving them away on technology is that moment that is not not spent somewhere else. So the answer is not abandoning technology, it's engaging it on purpose. I encouraged you at the top of the show. Psalm 90, verse 12 reminds us that wisdom begins by recognizing our time is precious and a gift from God to Stuart Every day is a gift from God. Every moment is an opportunity to invest in what matters most. So the question for families today is not how much technology are we using thing, it's why are we using the technology for what purpose? And technology is best when it serves your purpose. It's at its worst when it becomes your purpose. So before you tap, before you scroll, before you click, just ask why am I using this right now? That simple question can transform technology from something a taskmaster that consumes your attention to a tool that supports supports the life that God is calling in you to live. Now one of the purposes that people are using technology for more and more that I do want to talk about in home front headlines today is using it to seek out health information. Now we are seeing this can be a purpose that you go to technology for. And so it shows that even sometimes when we engage on purpose, those purposes can be sinful, those purposes can be not sinful at all, but can be well intentioned, but have an a detrimental result.

A national survey examined how adults are using social media for health information

I want to talk about one of those things right now, today, now a head. A headline that caught my attention was a national survey of about 7,000 US adults in this particular, in this particular survey. And they examined how adult, how people are using social media in particular for health information. And almost 90% of adults say, yeah, I'm engaging in social media. This is an interesting disconnect because when you look at the public, they are overwhelmingly say, please, please give us health information on social media. You look at healthcare providers, they're like, please, no, please, I don't want to. Because it's just there's so many challenges that are associated with it. And The Core demands are so great. A lot of healthcare providers, including me, think how do we balance and navigate all of that? But this particular survey showed about 85% of people engaged with health related content sharing, interacting with health information. 70% participated in online health communities. Stier, I made an actual health decision based on something I saw on social media. Whether that was making an appointment, taking a supplement, seeking a prescription, whatever it was that was there. Now the contradiction that emerged in this study is that also these users who are, are engaging for, for health content, 77 of them said, said, yeah, I also believe that this information can be false or misleading. And so this kind of illustrates the disconnect, the dissonance that we have. Like, we want to use technology, we don't trust technology, but we're just kind of being passive about it. And yet even though we say okay, we recognize it may not be reliable, we're still using it to guide our behavior and decisions. So this is a disconnect between distrust and behavior. And so that is, that that matters because we're living it in a trust it, but don't trust it kind of environment. And that is really hard for kids to navigate. In particular, we're not just going to social media for entertainment. We're consuming health guidance and medical opinions and wellness advice in real time. And when we know it's unreliable, we're still using it to guide our decisions again on supplements, on medical choices, on parenting decisions, on Mintle health interpretations. And so that is a dangerous paradox that we really need to call out that we recognize the information may be false, but we're still acting on it. Why is that? Well, I think it's because we're well intentioned, we want to do well for our families. The information is, is accessible. And so that's really hard. So we need to make sure that we Care Net outsourcing our health decisions to algorithms, that we, we are intentionally deciding the sources of what health content we consume, that we're not just letting emotional content, that all that spreads faster than accurate content. Be the guiding post. Like, it made me feel emotional. And viral advice is also something that can be dangerous because it seems like, well, everybody's doing it, everybody's accepting it. So I call that vicarious credibility. It's like just one person saw it and you think, okay, well this one person that I know who I think is pretty reasonable, they liked it, so it must be okay. We've got to recognize that those online communities sometimes can shape our beliefs faster than trusted relationships. So my concern is that health information is primarily coming through social media. And I, I think that can be a great place to start. There can be some great positive uses. But I've talked before about the importance of having a primary care clinician, someone you are literally trusting with your life. And in this day of, convenience and cost, which are really important factors for families, sometimes we sacrifice credibility for convenience and cost. So I encourage you to really invest your time in making sure that you have identified someone who you can go to with this health information and say, hey, what do you think about this? Hey, is this credible or is this not? Is this worth trying or is this not? That is really important. And so social media should be looked at as, as an exposure to information, not the end all, be all authority on information. Make sure you're getting your primary health guidance from a certified, reliable, credible healthcare professional. That is my advice to you because you got to think, where did this information come from before we act on it? And it's really hard, hard in the healthcare field right now to navigate all of that. But just slow your roll a little bit on that health decision making. Because no healthcare decision should be based on a viral video, what an influencer said, or the comment sections that said, I did this and it changed my life. Just pause again, that pause is so important. Pause before you act and on anything online you see about health and talk about algorithm influence. Because we need to recognize that healthcare information presented to you on social media media is not neutral. This is intentionally selected content designed to keep you engaged and popular is not the same thing as accurate. So this verify before you trust habit is really important. Checking with your healthcare provider using a curated, reputable, sources that you trust is really important. Making sure that that strongest protection for kids is relational. Because I see this A lot in kids influencing other kids, kids. And all of a sudden, kids becoming counselors and presenting themselves as experts on things like anxiety, depression, self harm, adhd. I'll give you an example. I've shared this before, but I saw a kid influencer talking about kids who self harm now. And this is a little tough to talk about. Make sure you, you Stuart those little ears who are listening. But I'll be gentle. But thinking about, there are kids who struggle with harming themselves through cutting themselves, themselves. And this kid influencer was saying, hey, I've got a solution for that. Get a really thick rubber band and some food dye and, and snap it really hard. You'll have the sensation of pain. These are. And the visual sensation, but you don't hurt yourself. These are things that are, frankly, dangerous. When we have. I think of myself as a clinician and I think how carefully I weigh any advice that I give and how much I want to Stuart that trust that families have in me. We need to make sure that we're not just thinking, oh, that's a good idea. Let's just start that. Let's just try that. Why not? That trust needs to be very carefully stewarded. So be very careful. My bottom line, be very careful in the health information that you consume online.

About a third of U. S. adults are using AI chatbots for health information

Now, another way that people are engaging in health information online, this is a purpose and intention that you're using, is through AI now I read, read this week a clinician who was describing a very specific clinical encounter. This was, I believe it was an ophthalmologist. And he talked about a woman who arrived to see him with, with a specific complaint. But before he examined her, she said she knew the diagnosis, that she had engaged with AI to talk about her symptoms. They had had a long chat about it. I'm talking about the woman and the chatbot. Okay. And that provided this very detailed narrative and said, hey, I think this is what it is. But when the ophthalmologist looked at the eye, saw something totally different than what she had seen, his experienced clinician eye saw something very different than what her chief complaint would have said. And when you. When the physician revisited that original symptom timeline, there was a mismatch that emerged when seeing that the AI led her in a different generation. Now, I. It didn't. A different direction. Now, it didn't just give her a wrong answer. It didn't say, it's this. It helped this patient build a narrative that was. That sounded very plausible, but it really replaced her original experience and leading her in a different direction. Now it's not just medical information. This is a memory formation issue that we're just starting to talk about because AI tools like chatbots, they don't function like search engines. Engines where you would search and you would give and, and the search engine would give you these fragmented options that you would put together yourself. It produces this single fluent story that feels very relevant, it feels very authoritative, it feels like it's credible. And that coherence is powerful because it starts asking questions and filling in the details and tightening the story. And this just this year, year, a 2026 poll found that about a third of U. S. Adults are using AI chatbots for health information but Care Net following up with a clinician afterwards. And we're seeing patients arrive with these AI generated diagnoses. And there are some, don't get me wrong, there are some great medical advances that are coming through AI, but there is a risk there. And so we need to make sure that how you're interacting with AI is in congruence is in conjunction with a licensed clinical healthcare provider. Because we found that we, not we, the research found that once a story is formed, even clinicians can be influenced by it and maybe they could even be blinded thinking, okay, this, this sounds like a clinical narrative. Yep, this is the way that we go, this is how we go instead of. And, and we find that that stud that researchers are finding that clinicians can be less accurate when they're exposed to that narrative narrative. So AI can be a conversation, but don't let it be a conclusion. It's useful for asking questions, for preparing for a healthcare visit, for educating you on something. But it shouldn't be the final diagnosis or decision making can help you think, but it shouldn't decide for you. So make sure that you are aware of that suggestion bias and you are reinforcing in your life and your family's life the role of trusted humans, especially healthcare providers. Say, okay, this is a starting point, not the final authority. And that is important. So I hope that you are using tech on purpose. And as you pray and navigate this increasingly wild wild west of technology, I pray the lord will bless you and keep you and make his face shine upon you. I'll see you right back here on Monday.

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Jeff Chamblee: opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.

It's Ask Dr. Nurse Mama Friday! Jessica talks about this week's healthy habit of being purposeful with technology. She also talks about Homefront Headlines.

Chapters:

(00:00) American Family Radio thanks sponsor, PreBorn for supporting pro life initiatives

(02:33) Being intentional with your technology use is becoming a default reflex

(10:29) Technology itself is not the problem. It's mindless consumption

(15:25) An ultrasound provided by PreBorn helped Candace hear her unborn baby's heartbeat

(17:36) On this Friday, we're talking about healthy habits for families

(24:17) Technology has become so normal that we don't notice it anymore

(29:00) Rest is with purpose. So instead of making the question, how much screen time can I have

(39:52) A national survey examined how adults are using social media for health information

(46:39) About a third of U. S. adults are using AI chatbots for health information

(50:31) PreBorn has rescued over 400,000 babies from abortion