After about a month of teaching Released Time at Pickens Middle School, I’ve learned a lot about middle schoolers. I love my job, and I love working with teens and sharing God’s word during the school day, but there are just some things I will never understand about this age group. (and yes, I’m sure my mother said the same thing at one time) The top random things I’ve learned about middle schoolers include:

One, VSCO girls are basically girls from the 90s…which I once was. They wear Birkenstocks, scrunchies, chokers, oversized shirts and leggings, friendship bracelets, and apparently are super worried about saving the turtles. They also hiss and make ridiculous noises at each other for no apparent reason randomly throughout their conversations. Yes, I feel 100 years old…but nope…I don’t get it.

Two, TikTok is the #1 obsession with middle schoolers right now. After hearing about TikTok every day for one month straight (and hearing that Facebook is only for old people and parents), I decided I would look it up and see what it was all about. I’ve heard about it but really never had a desire to check in to the obsession until now. I have to say, when I first downloaded the app, I had no idea what to expect. I knew I would see dance moves, because all of students are “attempting” to mimic them, and I knew it was a little out there, but what I didn’t know how addictive it really is. As I scrolled through clip after clip, my mind was taken over by the culture that we live in. Not all of the clips were bad, but the majority of them sent the wrong message to young minds and since they were such short clips, it was easy to see things you shouldn’t be looking at in between the clips that aren’t so bad.

In the 30 minutes or so that I was hooked on the app, I saw multiple clips of teenagers videoing their parent’s reaction to them shouting cuss words from a popular song or hearing dirty jokes, boys putting on makeup, young girls dancing in shorts way too short to be showcased for anyone to see, boys showing off their muscles and dancing trying to get attention, a lot of Git Up dance challenge clips, several videos of guys trying to get a date, and other videos of teens just saying things they should never say, plus randomly odd videos of couples singing to each other, and even tutorials of how to make it look like you’ve been cutting yourself. Yeah…this was all in just a few minutes. Just be careful what you post – you may think it’s private and it’ll never be seen, but once it’s out there, anyone can find it.

On the other side, there were some adorable videos of dog voice-overs, funny dance moves, Christian kids telling their testimonies, hairstyle tutorials, surprise military homecomings that made me cry, and a few other cool things, but in my opinion…is it really worth all of your time?

TikTok is like a trance that if you let it, it will take over your mind and basically brainwash you with whatever you are watching. We live in an instant gratification society. TikTok is instant. The clips are so short that after watching one you can just scroll down and there are endless others to watch. You can’t just stop at one either. It’s like once you see one, you have to scroll down and see the next one. It’s just a few seconds, so what’s it going to hurt? But then an hour later, you’ll realize that a few 5 second clips cost you an hour or more of your day.

Some clips are good and some are bad, but since they are all mixed in together, you never know what might pop up. Like I said, we live in an instant gratification, no filter, society. Just be careful what you are putting into your mind. If you fill your mind with filth, eventually you will start to be ok with whatever you are watching. One by one, things will start to look more common and your desire will be to fit in more with the society you live in. You’ll start to accept the sins that you know are wrong, just because you see them so much.

When sin saturates your mind, your mind starts to find satisfaction in the sins it’s filled with.

The #1 excuse for people not spending time with God is, “I don’t have time.” Well, here’s my answer, “If you have time to watch 100+ clips on TikTok and check all of your other social media sites and somehow text and facetime all your friends all day long, then how do you not have time for God?” Maybe you just need to prioritize. What are you willing to give up for God? What’s more important that the One who created you and sent His Son to die for your sins?

I’m not saying I’m perfect and I spend all day every day serving the Lord and reading my Bible and praying all day long, but I am saying I try my best to stay focused on God in all that I do.

If you constantly fill your mind with junk, eventually junk will come out. I called out a few of my students for saying the Lord’s name in vain in my class the other day, and one of them came to me after class and apologized. She said that she didn’t even realize it was in the song she was singing. Apparently there’s a TikTok song that’s catchy, hilarious, and gets stuck in your head after seeing it 100 times a day. Another one that gets stuck in your head is the one that kids are shouting cuss words just to get their parents’ reaction. Whatever it may be, don’t let it distract you from following God’s Word.

You have two directions that you can be going in life. One, you are moving closer to God and seeking His will for your life. Or two, you are moving away from God and closer to the sins you know are wrong. You are never standing still, living in the middle between good and bad. You are always moving one of two directions.

What about you? Are you moving closer to God or slowly moving away from Him?

Evaluate your life. Prioritize your time. Refocus on what matters most.

Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.” Psalm 1:1-3

May God Bless you and show you His grace every day!

-Kayla Rampey