I remember the exact moment I stopped rolling my eyes at "tech for youth" sermons. It was two years ago, at a cramped community center in Accra. A teenager named Kofi had just spent three hours coding a basic app to track his grandmother's blood pressure medication. The kid was 14. He learned everything from YouTube tutorials on a phone with a cracked screen.
Across town, another young person was using the same internet to download a guide on scamming people with fake investment schemes. Same tool. Completely different outcomes.
That's the tension nobody wants to talk about. Technology isn't inherently good or bad for young people — it's a mirror. It reflects whatever values, mentorship, and structure we've (or haven't) given them.
Pastor Prince D recently shared some thoughts on this exact intersection. I'll be honest — when I first heard "a pastor talking about tech," I braced for the usual "phones are evil" lecture. But his insights were surprisingly grounded. Let's break down what he actually said, and more importantly, what it means for anyone who cares about where our young people are headed.
The Truth Nobody Wants to Admit About Youth and Screens
Here's what most people miss: we keep treating technology like it's the problem, when the real issue is the vacuum.
Pastor Prince D didn't mince words. He pointed out that youth today are navigating a world where the average teenager spends 7-9 hours daily on screens. That's more time than they spend sleeping, eating, or in school. But here's his punchline — and this is where he caught my attention — he said the issue isn't the screen time. It's the direction of that time.
I've found that when we demonize phones, young people simply tune us out. They think, "Oh, another old person who doesn't get it." But when you sit down and ask them what they're actually doing — not how long — the picture changes.
Pastor Prince D broke it down into three categories that I think are brilliant:
- Consumption — scrolling, watching, liking, sharing. Passive.
- Connection — chatting, gaming, socializing. Relational.
- Creation — coding, designing, writing, building. Productive.
Why "Just Put the Phone Down" Is Terrible Advice
Let's be honest — telling a teenager to "just stop using technology" in 2024 is like telling them to stop breathing air. It's not going to happen. And honestly, it shouldn't.
Pastor Prince D made a point that stopped me cold: "The same device that distracts them can also develop them."
Think about that. The phone in their pocket has more computing power than NASA had when we landed on the moon. It's a classroom, a studio, a workshop, a library, and a business — all in one. But most of us (myself included) have treated it like a pacifier.
I've started experimenting with this in my own life. When I catch myself doomscrolling, I force a switch. Instead of watching someone else build something, I open a notes app and write. Instead of watching a tutorial, I actually follow it and make something. It's uncomfortable at first. But that discomfort is the price of growth.
Here's the secret most youth workers miss: don't fight the tool. Fight the passivity. Teach young people to ask one question before they open any app: "Am I creating or consuming right now?"
The Hidden Power of Mentorship in a Digital Age
This is where Pastor Prince D's perspective really shines. He talked about something I've noticed but never had words for — digital mentorship.
In the old days, mentorship meant someone physically sitting next to you, showing you how to do something. That still works. But here's what's changed: today, a 16-year-old in Kumasi can learn graphic design from a professional in Nairobi. A girl in Takoradi can learn Python from a developer in Lagos. The mentors are out there. The barrier isn't access — it's awareness.
Pastor Prince D emphasized that young people need guides who understand both the technology and the spiritual/character formation side. Not someone who just says "use tech for good" without showing how. Not someone who just knows tech but ignores the human heart.
I've seen this play out in real time. There's a group I work with where we paired teenagers with young professionals in tech fields. The results were shocking — dropout rates from the program were almost zero. Why? Because the kids finally saw a path. They had someone who looked like them, who was doing something real, and who could answer the question: "How do I get from where I am to where you are?"
If you're reading this and you know something — coding, video editing, digital marketing, even just how to organize files on a computer — you have something to offer a young person. You don't need a degree in education. You need patience and presence.
The 3 Things Pastor Prince D Says Every Youth Program Must Get Right
I took notes during the talk, and I'll share them verbatim because they're too good to paraphrase:
1. Purpose over Platform Stop obsessing over which app or device they're using. Ask why they're using it. Is it to escape? To connect? To build? The platform doesn't matter if the purpose is hollow.
2. Character over Clicks This one hit me. Pastor Prince D said we've created a generation that measures worth by likes, views, and followers. But character — integrity, patience, discipline — can't be measured by an algorithm. He argued that any tech training that doesn't include character formation is incomplete. I agree. I've seen talented young people crash out because they had skills but no self-control.
3. Contribution over Consumption The end goal isn't to make young people good consumers of technology. It's to make them contributors. People who solve problems, create value, and serve others with their skills. This shifts everything. Suddenly, learning to code isn't about getting a job — it's about being able to build something that helps your community.
The Hard Question We're Not Asking
Here's where I'm going to get a little uncomfortable. And I think Pastor Prince D would agree.
We talk a lot about "preparing youth for the future." But what if the future is already here, and we're the ones who aren't ready?
The digital divide isn't just about access to devices. It's about access to vision. I know young people with smartphones who can't name three career paths that exist in tech. I know others with barely any data who are teaching themselves skills that will outlast traditional degrees.
Pastor Prince D pointed out that the church and community organizations have a massive role to play here. Not by building fancy computer labs that gather dust. But by creating ecosystems where young people can experiment, fail, learn, and try again — all within a supportive environment.
I've seen this work. A friend of mine runs a weekly "tech club" in a church basement. No fancy equipment. Just a projector, some old laptops people donated, and a willingness to learn alongside the kids. One of the girls from that group just got accepted into a coding bootcamp. She started with zero knowledge.
The difference was someone who believed in her before she believed in herself.
What I'm Taking Away From This
If I had to sum up Pastor Prince D's insights in one sentence, it would be this: Technology is a tool. Youth are the builders. And we — parents, mentors, leaders — are the architects of the environment where they build.
We can't afford to be passive. We can't afford to just hand a young person a phone and hope for the best. And we definitely can't afford to just complain about screen time without offering alternatives.
Here's what I'm actually doing differently after hearing this:
- I'm asking the young people in my life what they're building, not just what they're watching.
- I'm sharing my own failures with tech — the time I wasted, the bad habits I fell into. Vulnerability builds bridges.
- I'm actively connecting them to people who are doing real work in tech, not just influencers selling courses.
The future isn't coming. It's being built right now, on cracked screens and slow connections, by young people who are waiting for someone to show them what's possible.
Will you be that someone?
