FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out
April 10, 2016 | Calvin Bryant
Now that Spring Break has come and gone, most likely students have posted pictures of their trips. (And if your family wasn't "normal" and didn't take a trip, I'm sure your student let you know how deprived they are!) No matter how great the trip was, students were still probably checking other user's posts, comparing their lives, memories, and vacations. This only furthers the problem many Middle Schoolers call FOMO, or Fear Of Missing Out.
FOMO is the Middle School version of adults "keeping up with the Jones's." And let's be honest, we all do this to some extent (for MS kids - Instagram, for "old people" like me - Facebook). But social media makes it easier and easier to feel like we're "missing" something. The real cause of this is us valuing/idolizing possessions and experiences more than God (and most likely we know that and our kids know that). But how can we practically deal with it? Check out the article below for some tips.
Discussion questions with MS students: Are there any habits you might want to change? (Such as not checking your phone before bed). What would happen if you turned off your phone for a day?Or unfollowed/unfriended someone who was making you feel bad on social media? Do posts ever affect your mood?