The recent social media age restrictions have disrupted daily life for our young people. Although scrolling on social media can often be seen as an individual activity, it has offered teenagers a sense of community and belonging. With their access being limited, we have an opportunity to replace digital connection with strong, healthy, real-life community.
This moment invites youth leaders, parents and the wider church to rethink how we support young people, and how we help them navigate this transition with care and wisdom.
An Opportunity for Youth Leaders
For some teenagers, the sudden removal of social media may feel like losing a lifeline. This is an important space to step in and offer connection and support to the young people in our churches.
“While traditionally our kids and youth programs would take a break over summer,” says Louise Bartlett, Team Leader for Children and Family Ministries, “we’ve got six weeks now where kids and teenagers who may have previously used social media to entertain themselves will be looking for something to do. Some churches have already had community members approach them asking what their church can offer teenagers over the school holidays.”
It doesn’t need to be a full holiday program, but how could your church offer small opportunities for connection over the school holidays? You can think creatively – a casual dinner, a picnic, a local walk, a board game night, or a church-wide family gathering. Along with any available regular leaders perhaps there are others approved for children’s or youth ministry like SRE teachers who could be part of a team for these ad hoc events.
As young people shift rapidly to new communication platforms, many with private messaging features, youth ministries need to keep communication open. “We need to have strong and open communication with our young people, so if they’re diving into unsafe spaces on the internet, they have people they can come to and speak to about it,” says Sarah Alarcon, Team Leader for Baptist Youth Ministries.
This is also an ideal time to review how your ministry communicates with both young people and parents. Half your youth group no longer has access to your insta posts. Have open conversations with teenagers about which platforms they are using and why. Reflect on the benefits and risks of each platform and consider how your communication can model integrity and align with Safe Church principles. For example, if you move to a WhatsApp group, ensure appropriate policies, privacy settings, parental permissions and shared accountability are in place.
Use this time to assess whether your systems align with your Safe Church Policy. You can reach out to the Safe Ministry Team or the Baptist Youth Ministries team if you need guidance, and check whether your Safe Church practices need updating. Guidelines on how to approach digital communication with young people can be found on pages 7 and 8 in the Guideline to Activities on the Creating Safe Spaces website.
For Parents: Creating a Space for Real-Life Gatherings
With screens suddenly less available, intentionality at home matters more than ever. Parents can create real-life opportunities for connection by becoming the home where young people feel welcome and included.
“Can your house be the house?” asks Louise, “can you make your home a gathering place that builds community and invites friends in?”
“There’s a real opportunity for us to re-engage in human relationship and connection,” says Sarah, “as parents we want to create space for our children and young people to build relationships.”
And parents can look at how they can partner with other parents. Belonging is central to teenage behaviour, and when parents work together, they form a village that supports every child.
This shift challenges adult’s behaviour as much as teenagers. If a young person can no longer sit and scroll through social media, what does it communicate when we as adults get lost in our screens? Or what does it model if a parent helps a child get around government regulation in this area of life but not others? Our children notice our actions and habits, so it’s important to model integrity in our response to the restrictions and our own social media use.
For Churches: Communicating with Young People
If you’re in a position to have direct conversations with young people, acknowledge that this transition is difficult, reassure them that the adults around them are there to support them. Encourage them to reach out to a trusted adult if they encounter unsafe online spaces.
And approach them with empathy: “We know this is hard, and it’s not because you did anything wrong. The system that has developed isn’t t good for you, and now we have an opportunity to do something different. What do you think would help you to find belonging and hope? We want what’s best for your wellbeing.”
This season is an opportunity. For families to reconnect. For youth ministries to strengthen their pastoral presence. For churches to embody safe, healthy and flourishing community. And for teenagers to rediscover friendship, belonging, creativity and genuine, real-life connection.
We cannot control the broader digital landscape, but we can shape the kind of real-life community we offer young people.
If you’d like to explore this further, Sarah will be running a workshop at Connect 2026: Digital Disciples—Following Jesus in a World of AI Chatbots and Endless Scrolls, helping leaders equip young people to find and deepen faith in a shifting digital culture.
You can also contact the Baptist Youth Ministries team at bymin@nswactbaptists.org.au or the Safe Ministry team at safeministryteam@nswactbaptists.org.au.
