5. When have you, as an adult, had to accept critique and be teachable? What was painful about that experience? What blessings came from that time?
6. If you are familiar with the Bible, what concepts have you encountered in God's Word that seemed paradoxical? How have you been able to grow in your faith despite these complexities?
7. When have you been able to help your teens sort and sift a load of information that's before them? Did your teen welcome your assistance? When have you been able to help your teen make connections between apparently disconnected bits of information or seemingly unrelated ideas? Was your teen able to understand the synthesis of ideas when you explained your insight?
1. Who are the people with whom you share your deepest connection? When have you felt strongly connected to your teen? Do you think your teen felt the connection at the same time?
2. Why is it worth putting in a lot of effort to build a deep, meaningful connection with your teen? What would you miss if this connection gets broken or damaged?
3. How have you been able to improve your connection with your teen using the tools of technology? How do you see the tech tools and other relationship skills working together?
4. Questions are a definite asset when it comes to sparking conversation between parents and teens. But have you ever felt overwhelmed by questions coming at you? Have you ever slid into interrogation mode when addressing your teen? Why are questions delivered in a barrage so much less effective than gentle questioning mixed with other comments and interaction?
5. When and where have your best conversations with your teen taken place? Have you ever tried to re-create some of those conditions in order to initiate another deep interaction with your son or daughter? How did that work?
6. How might conversations with Mom and Dad help to meet the five deep human needs of security, identity, belonging, purpose, and competence?
7. Now that you've reached the end of this book, have you identified ways your teens need more guidance in their technology use? What made you aware of this? What changes do you hope to implement at home?
8. Which categories of questions did you think would be most effective with your particular teenâmaybe the Four Cs or the Five Ls? Which of these might be the best category to begin to discuss with your teenâsocial media, relationships, stewardship, or spiritual growth? How might you get your teens on board for a time of talking through some of the questions included in this chapter, a few at a time?
9. As you've explored some of these technology-related issues, your own worldview and its implications have come under the microscope, to some degree. Have you surprised yourself by discovering any discrepancies between your stated beliefs and your actual practices? Are you able to talk with your teens about your own pursuit of integrity between your behaviors and your heart?
