Photo courtesy of: http://asouthernfriedmess.files.wordpress.com
Updated 3/16/12
Do your college students still read books?
I’m not talking about text books (but statistics would tell us that upwards of 60% of text books purchased for classes go unread).
No, I’m talking about those non-fiction books designed to encourage their spiritual growth, shape their leadership and challenge their ways of thinking about how they live life in the world they inhabit.
I read a blog post last week that’s had me thinking…
In referencing the online habits of today’s young adults, the comment was made that blogs are for an “older” generation (ahem…), and that this younger generation prefers to get their information in the bite-sized bits that a 140-character tweet or Facebook status update will allow for.
That same post mentioned that the percentage of online material that has move from word/image-based to video-based is increasing at a dramatic rate. And prognosticators suggest that by 2015 — just 3 years from now — that the web could consist of nearly 90% video-based material… because that’s what this generation (the younger generation in particular) demands.
And I found myself wondering… if today’s students aren’t willing to take the time to read a 300-1000 word blog post… and prefer videos, podcasts, etc., to the written word… then what is the likelihood that they are reading books?
Now, I’ll be the first to confess that my own love for reading didn’t come until after I had graduated from college.
I guess I just wasn’t ready.
But in our technologically advanced culture… will our students ever turn that corner?
Will they ever choose to sit down long enough, with a non-interactive, paper-based resource… to enjoy it? For more than 5 minutes?
What does this mean for their ability to sit with larger portions of the biblical text? Can they study it? Meditate on it? Pray through it?
What does it mean for their exposure to some of the great authors and thinkers from the past?
How about their exposure to some of the current shapers of Christian thought?
How much are we, as campus ministers and college pastors, to allow this changing reality to shape our ministry?
Should we be regularly tweeting scripture?
Posting quotes from rich Christian texts to our Facebook walls?
Sharing paragraphs, or pages, from important thinkers with some of our student leaders during our training and/or counseling sessions???
I know all campuses are different… but I wonder, how much of this you are seeing on your campus?
A lot more questions than answers today…
And I’d love to know what you think about this!
Please take a moment to share insights in the comment section below.
Loading ...