We’ve spent the past three blog posts and nine podcast episodes exploring how high school experiences are timeless across the decades. And they are. But it would be naïve to pretend nothing has changed. To close out our High School Time Machine series, we turn our attention to the biggest shifts in today’s high schools and what students need most from the adults in their lives.
We are stating the obvious here. Technology is most likely the first thing that jumps into your mind when you compare your high school years to the ones your student is experiencing. But just because it’s obvious doesn’t mean it’s not worth talking through.
Dr. Reueter shares that technology has always been part of the classroom. But the major shift? Now it’s in the hands of every student, not just teachers.
Students still have the same desire as all humans: to be deeply known and seen. Having a mini-computer in everyone’s hand has amplified both connection and disconnection. Students are more accessible than ever — and yet the ache to feel truly known, seen, and loved can feel louder too.
Before we get into the weeds of the struggles with technology, let’s explore some benefits it brings to schools: For students wanting to do deep research, get a jump start on a potential career path, and get immediate answers to questions, technology - and even, dare we say, the rise of AI - has been great. For parents wanting to be more connected to what their students are learning and how they are progressing in school, again, LMS systems like Canvas have been a game-changer.
Dr. Rueter even shares that technology is the reason he can be an active parent in his son’s high school progress despite living in Colorado while his son finishes high school in California.
And yet.
We’ve all experienced the ugly side of technology firsthand. On a bad day, it is a constant distraction that eats up our brain space and ability to focus. On the worst day, it drags us into versions of ourselves that we don’t want to be. Gluing our faces to our phones - even though it offers a dopamine hit - disconnects us from reality: flesh and blood relationships and community that are the only way to get the desire to be seen and known filled.
Students have more access to information than ever before. And that’s a good thing as long as it’s balanced with wisdom. It’s one thing to be able to find the right answer. It’s another to be able to make decisions based on the knowledge.
As Jen Wilkin puts it, “Wisdom is living God’s way in God’s world. It’s the owner's manual for being a human. Knowledge is having the facts. Wisdom is knowing how to use the facts to arrive at the best ends. For example, knowledge is knowing tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put a tomato in a fruit salad. Wisdom is knowledge applied.”
From a Christian worldview, wisdom is taking facts and using them to reason out the truth and God-honoring choices.
Dr. Rueter cautions students to fact-check AI summaries and Google search results. This is a practical way to apply wisdom to information in a classroom setting. At LuHi, we want students to develop deep critical-thinking skills. High school today is less about access to answers and more about learning how to evaluate them.
Dr. Rueter ends the episode by walking us through a helpful parenting shift.
In the early years, parents act as rescuers. And although the urge to rescue our kids or students never really goes away, as they grow up, we become guides. In practice, it looks like asking questions instead of correcting. We use conversation to deepen relationships and support students' processing. And as high schoolers continue to develop, they need not just guides but a space to process and challenge their own ideas.
Dr. Rueter’s simple answer for what students need most from the adults in their lives: a sounding board. Teachers, parents, and coaches serve their students best when they help students think through the ideas they encounter.
In the Christian context, it is also our role to point them back to the wisdom of Jesus and their identity in Christ.
It’s helpful to know that no matter if you graduated from high school in the 80s or 20s, our core experiences and core desires are still the same. At LuHi, this looks like:
Jesus is the foundation.
Adults participate in students’ formation.
Parents remain the primary influence.
It takes a village.
During the school year, we don’t eliminate technology from our students. We know it is part of their everyday lives. We also don’t promise a distraction-free life at LuHi. And we certainly don’t pretend that culture - a very different worldview from the Christian one - doesn’t exist.
Instead, we know a better use of resources is to teach discernment, model critical thinking, encourage embodied Christian community, and point students (and one another) to Christ.
So far, that foundation has served us well.
For the last time in this series, we want to leave you with some final reflection questions to keep the conversation going with your student at home.
What daily habits are forming your attention?
How do you think device usage shapes you in and out of the classroom?
What is a quality you admire about adults in your life who model good technology boundaries? What can you learn from them?
How can you identify what is information vs wisdom? Why does this matter?
On your search for wisdom, remember James 1:5: If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
If you missed any of the High School Time Machine series, you can catch up on all the episodes now.