Read Time: 2 Minutes 32 Seconds
What’s the first thing your child wants to do the moment their backpack hits the floor after school? Screen time. Studies show the average child spends 52.5 hours per week in front of a screen; this is more time than the average adult’s work week!
Maybe your household has this on lock, with age-appropriate time limits in place and a “homework first” expectation. Still, studies show that kids today are online more than ever before, gaming, scrolling and socializing—and it isn’t always a pretty picture. Sadly, the content of many popular games and other forms of digital entertainment are anything but edifying for our children’s hearts and minds. From pornography and sexualization to violence, profanity, vain image obsession and comparison, our vulnerable next generation is suffering with record levels of depression and anxiety.
What’s out there that’s high quality, fun and conveys God’s truth? Almost nothing.
Recognizing that digital entertainment is here to stay, we need to do something. How can parents and other advocates of safe entertainment for kids take a stand for our kids in the digital world? There are three things that need to happen immediately to influence the landscape of children’s entertainment.
1. We must create high-quality, fun content. While video games have been around since today’s parents were kids, now they’re woven even tighter into the fabric of our culture. Gaming has proven to be the entertainment choice for most kids. If they’re going to be in that space, product developers and advocates for clean content need to be there too.
Christian and non-Christian parents desiring safe and fun gaming content is a massively underserved market in the digital entertainment industry. The demand is there—parents want better choices. We can make our demand known by playing, downloading and subscribing to uplifting, clean content for kids.
2. We need to create faith-formative content.
Surprising to some, gaming is an ideal medium for faith exploration. Faith, like gaming, is experiential. We develop it through trial and error. God gives a person the agency to live out their faith as they choose. He even gives them the grace to try again when they fail.
If game developers can embed biblical truths into creative and exciting storylines, why wouldn’t they? Rather than feed the next generation senseless violence and dark themes that are destructive to their emotional well-being, let’s offer them positive role models and uplifting adventures that point them to hope in Jesus Christ.
3. We need industry leaders to step up to the plate.
In the technology space, we don’t see much thought given to the well-being of our most precious resource—our children. If more game developers and those with deep industry experience would choose to enter the Christian entertainment space, we could really make a difference in the lives of the next generation.
We’ve been amazed at the caliber of talent that’s come our way at TruPlay. But we will continue to add more people to the company. Pray for more Christ-like, world-class talent to keep entering this space.
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Brent Dusing is the CEO and founder of TruPlay, a gaming platform created to bring high-quality, fun and biblically-sound entertainment to audiences worldwide. Committed to seeing the betterment of children around the world, TruPlay is building games, digital comics, video content and Web 3.0 content to bring light to a world in need of God’s love, hope and truth. For more information, visit truplaygames.com.
Charisma Staff 
Rabbi Eric Tokajer 
