I’ve been excited about moving our student ministry quickly into the texting generation, and even more now in light of this post today about students and how they prefer to communicate.

3. Text messages are brief and to the point. The person texting doesn’t waste words; in fact, they usually abbreviate the message.

4. Text messaging is in your control. The receiver can stop when they want to. This kind of control is attractive to students today. They want communication on their terms.

Students today are inundated with messages, from every side. I believe they’re most likely to respond to a text message because it allows them fast, current, relevant communication with friends–but at a safe distance. They like intimacy without a lot of vulnerability.

Here’s a link to all of the posts I’ve made about texting here on the blog if you want to see what tools we’re using and why.

JG

So, I may have originally made fun of the geeks of the world out there that carry a Moleskin journal with them. Now I’m taking one out for a spin – I’ve found out that bringing the PPC-6700 to meetings people think I’m texting and doing email (and they would be right), and something old school and offline might give off the impression I’m actually paying attention.

JG

Larry Davis has some good insight on texting and student ministry today in his new article, too. Here’s an excerpt, I think it’s worth the read:

We also need to teach our students to take a Sabbath break! They do not need to be constantly plugged in. I get texts sometimes from students at 2AM and when I forget to turn my phone off my wife is the one that I am answering to! I recently did a Sunday message on this and asked the students to do a “texting fast” for one week. Many complained that they just could not do it! I told them that if they could not then that cell phone had too high of a priority in their life. Instead of texting that week they just needed to pick the phone up and call someone. Many students told me that their friends would not answer when they called because it was just too personal and time consuming when the called instead of texting. While it was tough it helped them understand that the only thing which we should be completely dependant on is Christ.

Lastly, I would encourage parents to limit the amount of air time a student gets. This helps monitor how much texting is being done and also helps them to take those needed breaks. In a recent student survey at our church a student recorded that they sent over 4,800 texts in two weeks! There are so many more areas to touch on this subject and I could go on and on. What is really important is that you are made aware of this issue and you help compensate for the downfalls by enhancing personal student to student interaction. If you have any questions, please feel free to text me (LOL)!

JG