On Thursday, November 5, youth and parents gathered in Las Vegas, filling a church meetinghouse to listen to Steven T. Collis, a law professor at the University of Texas School of Law and expert on religious freedom, who came to teach about choosing to be a disciple of Jesus Christ in a time of technology overload.

A major focus of his message was about turning to and relying on the Lord to help overcome life’s challenges.

“We have to find a way to put the Lord first,” Collis said, adding that when we do this, “He will work miracles in our lives.”

“You can start using technology instead of technology manipulating you,” Collis said. He mentioned methods such as turning off notifications, but leaving on positive notifications like scripture notes or messages from family; putting phones down to connect with people in person; and notifying people when you won’t be available as ways to begin breaking technology’s hold.

“In times of strength, take the things off your phone that you don’t truly need,” Collis advised.

Collis talked about the amount of time being spent online, and pointed out that 93% of an Instagram user’s time is spent on what is fed to the user by the algorithm, while only 7% is spent on friends and people they follow. He encouraged youth to seek out more in-person interactions, explaining that people do better emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually when they have in-person conversations.

Additionally, Collis discussed how being more purposeful with our time helps us stay closer to Christ.

“How often is the Lord trying to speak to us but we are not hearing His voice because we are just on our device?” Collis asked.

Collis encouraged the youth to share their thoughts and impressions at the end of the meeting, and shared an insight from a youth in a previous meeting: “If we see each other the way Christ sees us, we won’t use our phones to avoid them.”

After the meeting, youth discussed ways they were planning to implement changes based on what they had learned, including setting screen time limits on apps, not using technology too close to bed, and turning off notifications except for those from family and close friends. One youth talked about how he is about to get a new phone, and he plans to intentionally use the new phone without wasting time on it.

Porter, a Las Vegas youth, said he is thinking about the time he spends playing games on his phone. “I really want to spend my time doing something better. After this, it’s really helped me see how I can do better, especially on the phone.”

Many youth discussed how impressed they were by the message of connecting more with people around them, and connecting more with Christ.

“We need to prioritize the connections we have in building strong families, friendships, and relationships so that we can have good, fulfilled lives,” said Lizzie, a youth from Las Vegas, about what she learned in the meeting.

Other youth shared how much they appreciated the final message shared by Collis that evening, which was the following quote by President Dallin H. Oaks, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

“Many parents will find that they can turn their family on if they all turn their technologies off. And parents, remember, what those children really want for dinner is time with you.”