8 Things Google Just Told Us About How to Reach Today’s Teenagers

5. Teen boys have a fractured view of what relationships are. It’s Lit highlighted how much time teen boys spend online, stating online video games have become the primary way teen boys connect with friends. You combine this with the increasing rate of absentee fathers, and the result is a fractured view of what relationships are. Here’s how It’s Lit put it: “Boys think video games are cool not only for their storylines, wide variety, and ability to escape to a virtual reality, but also for the ability to connect with friends.”

Action step – Be intentional to recruit adults (especially males) willing to mentor teen boys.

6. Sports is the heart language of teens. Another quote from It’s Lit: “Team sports are the coolest and most common way for Gen Z to connect in real life, and serves as the antidote to tech-overkill. Teens love sports for their teamwork, competitiveness an the relaxing outlet they provide. Teens love sports for their teamwork, competitiveness and the relaxing outlet they provide.” If you want to meaningfully connect with teens, sports is a great way to do it.

Action step – Bring back the church softball league. Utilize sports as a bridge to build relationships.

7. Tell better stories through video. The top two rated brands among today’s teens are YouTube and Netflix, both companies which use video as a medium to tell stories. There’s something to learn from this.

Action step – Get on YouTube and start telling your stories through video. One simple way to start is to record video testimonies of people before they get baptized.

8. They don’t need more information. They need help filtering the information they’re being bombarded with. Last quote from It’s Lit: “Gen Z never knew the world before the internet – before everything you could ever need was one click away.” Their struggle isn’t a lack of information but an overflow of information. It’s not lack of knowledge so much as a lack of wisdom and discernment.

Action step – Help teens with critical thinking and prepare them to better handle the never-ending of onslaught of information.