Travis Boudreaux

One simple rule of life is this: every generation changes in some way from the previous generation.  Technological advances by the previous generation effect the way the next generation is raised.  I will give one example of this.  As a soon to be 27 yr old, my youth was effected by the rise of the video game console, the internet, and television.  My parents were raised with television, so that did not drastically alter my life and the habits I developed as child.

But video games did have a dramatic effect on me.  Where the generation before me sought entertainment through playing kickball and hide-and-seek in the empty lots and cane fields of rural Louisiana, as a young boy my entertainment value was based upon Donkey Kong, The Mario Brothers, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

At the speed of technological advancements, drastic changes in the way people communicate have effected the lives of teenagers that even stands out apart from people who were teenagers 10 years ago (ME).  Where standard communications 10 years ago with friends mostly involved a phone call on a land line, teenagers now stay in touch through things like text messages, instant messages, mySpace bulletins, Facebook Status updates, and tweets.

The point that I am making is that the next generation of Catholic priests and nuns, will be teenagers who have had there lives and communication methods drastically altered by the advancements of communications technology made by the previous generation.  In all the noise of our busy lives though, there needs to be promotion that it is healthy to “unplug”.

These things serve a good purpose, and when used properly can be used for the greater glory of God.  So I think that there should be dialog in the church about ways to use these technologies, in a healthy and mature Christian way.  Because whether we want to accept it or not, the effects of these technologies on daily lives can already be seen in the differences between 27 yr olds (guys like me) and in 17 yr olds (the teenagers we minister to).