Cover Story by Beth Coleman Television was the No. 1 preferred homework alternative.

Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index Previous Cover Stories | Send mail to The Voice Techonology distracts Multnomah students Multnomah students are susceptible to the temptations of technology. According to a survey The Voice took in January, half of the 143 students surveyed feel technology has interfered with their spiritual growth in some way. Of those, more than two-thirds pointed to television as the culprit. Eight percent named video games, and 13 percent blamed the Internet for their stunted spiritual growth. However, one female student said, "I use technology as a tool to enhance my spiritual growth." Close behind those citing spiritual growth problems, 48 percent confessed that technology has interfered with school work. Again, television was the No. 1 preferred homework alternative. Forty-six percent named television. Twenty percent said the Internet impeded homework completion. Ten percent said video games caused an academic interruption. Sixty percent of students polled live on campus. Thirty-six percent polled were off-campus. Because off-campus students have more access to television while on-campus students have little access, on-campus responses differed from off-campus responses. One-third of off-campus students said they spend excessive time using technology. Thirteen percent of on-campus students said they felt they used technology too much. When on-campus students responded whether or not technology interferes with their spiritual growth, 40 percent said it did compared to 71 percent of off-campus students. One on-campus student said, "Sometimes I see the game playing in my mind when I pray. I fight it, but it's bad." Another student said, "Some technology (TV, movies, etc.) has definitely affected our ability for abstract thinking. We have become used to being fed images at a constant rate, not giving us time for autonomous, reflective thinking (i.e. stopping for a moment to think about the logic and implications on my life of a given passage of scripture.) Although we are capable of this, hours on end of mindless TV watching make it much harder." Also 73 percent of off-campus students said they felt technology has interfered with their studies while only 34 percent of on-campus students felt the same. Thirty-seven percent of students said the time they spend using technology leaves them feeling guilty. Of those students, 47 percent said they felt guilty for spending too much time in front of the television. According to one student who admitted to feelings of guilt, "TV for the most part is the biggest waste of time ever invented." "It [technology] has stolen our need for relationships by providing a cheap imitation of what real life is," one female student said. The majority of those surveyed, 80 percent, watch up to five hours of television per week. Twelve percent watch six-10 hours, 4 percent watch 11-16 hours and 1 percent watch 16-20 hours of television per week. Ninety-four percent play video games up to five hours per week, and 81 percent use the Internet up to five hours per week. "Technology has created mindless, unthinking drones who interact very little with others and are lacking in basic communication skills," a female wrote. Eighteen percent surveyed said they felt that technology has interfered with their social lives. Some students commented that technology was a boost to their social life: "Going to a good movie with friends is a cultural blast," one male wrote. "I think it would be exciting to see the medium of TV really used to change people's perception of reality and values instead of just trying to scam them TBN style," a female student said. Even though the majority of those students surveyed average zero to five hours a week using television or the Internet, most students still reported feeling guilty for the time they spend using technology. Yet some students think technology helps fulfill the Great Commission. "For the first time, we have the ability to reach everyone on the planet with the gospel of Christ," one student wrote. "It has revolutionized missions by giving us the ability to correspond daily with missionaries. Technology is a great means of furthering the work of the Lord," a student wrote. Some students weren't sure why the question was asked. "Was this added to spiritualize the survey?" a master's student wrote. Some students felt technology has a negative effect on the Great Commission. "I think most, if not all, technology forms for entertainment are making Christians lazy and disobedient to the Lord," a male wrote. "It gets in the way and makes us unproductive, and lazy," a student said. Another student said, "I'm not sure how effective sitting in front of the television is." Beth Coleman feels very strongly that Oregon Trail is a great computer game. Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index Previous Cover Stories | Top Of Page Send mail to The Voice| Journalism department website © 2000 The Voice. No part of this publication may be reproduced in written or electronic form without prior written consent from the journalism adviser of Multnomah Bible College. All rights reserved.