“Lesson 177—Taking Charge of Technology: Being Deliberate in Our Choices Concerning Technology,” Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual (2025)
“Taking Charge of Technology,” Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual
Lesson 177: For the Strength of Youth: Making Choices
Taking Charge of Technology
Being Deliberate in Our Choices Concerning Technology
We are blessed to live in a time with much technology. Our use of technology can help us grow closer to Jesus Christ and help His work move forward. But it can also lead us away from Him. This lesson can help students apply safeguards to take charge of their technology use.
Possible Learning Activities
Technology use
Consider displaying an image of the gold plates. Explain that God entrusted the gold plates to the Prophet Joseph Smith.
Read Joseph Smith—History 1:46, looking for the warning Moroni gave Joseph Smith about the gold plates.
Consider writing the heading Use for good on one side of the board and the heading Misuse on the other. You could then write students’ responses to the following questions under each heading.
-
How would Satan try to get Joseph Smith to misuse the gold plates?
-
How did Joseph Smith use the gold plates for good?
Hold up a cell phone or display a picture of one, and tell students that God has entrusted them with technology.
-
How can we use technology for good?
-
In what ways might teenagers feel tempted to misuse technology?
Invite students to quietly reflect on the following question.
-
How are you using technology in ways the Lord would want you to?
Encourage students to be open to impressions of how they can take charge of their technology use. Consider sharing that just as the Lord guided Joseph Smith to use the gold plates for good, He can help us do the same with technology.
Inspired guidance
The following activity can help students learn from the Lord’s inspired guidance about taking charge of technology.
One way you can study the following sections is to divide your class into two groups. Distribute one section to each group. Invite students to study their section individually, write in their study journals their answers to the questions, and be ready to teach what they learn.
Alternatively, you might invite students to study whichever section they are more interested in.
Taking Charge of Technology
Section 1. Spending time on technology wisely
In the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord uses the terms “anxiously engaged” and “idle.”
-
What do you think these terms mean?
Read the following scriptures and ponder what the Lord teaches about being anxiously engaged and being idle: Doctrine and Covenants 58:27–28; 60:13; 68:31; 75:3.
-
How would you summarize what the Lord teaches?
(Among several truths, you might identify something such as the following: The Lord desires that we be anxiously engaged in doing good and not idle away our time.)
-
How can we recognize if we are idling away our time with technology?
Study the following statement, looking for insights about using technology wisely.
Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:
An immature or misguided [individual] may devote an inordinate amount of time to playing video games, chatting online, or in other ways allowing the digital to dominate things as they really are. Initially the investment of time may seem relatively harmless, rationalized as a few minutes of needed relief from the demands of a hectic daily schedule. But important opportunities are missed for developing and improving interpersonal skills. … Progressively, seemingly innocent entertainment can become a form of pernicious enslavement. (David A. Bednar, “Things as They Really Are,” Ensign, June 2010, 21)
-
What reasons do people use to justify wasting time on technology?
-
What helps you to avoid idling away your time on technology?
-
How might you involve the Lord in your efforts to use technology wisely?
Section 2. Choosing good media
-
What media choices do you make regularly?
-
What have your experiences taught you that can help you stay closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as you make choices about media?
Read Doctrine and Covenants 50:23–24; Articles of Faith 1:13; and Moroni 7:12–17, looking for truths that can help us judge what is good and what is evil.
-
What truths do you find in these verses?
(Among several truths, you might identify something like the following: That which edifies and persuades to do good is from God.)
-
How might you benefit from applying this truth when you choose what media to use?
Elder David A. Bednar invited us to ask ourselves the following question about the media we use:
Does the use of various technologies and media invite or impede the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost in your life? (David A. Bednar, “Things as They Really Are,” Ensign, June 2010, 23)
-
How can you invite the Holy Ghost as you make media choices?
-
What helps you avoid the type of media that can lead you away from the Savior?
When students have finished studying, invite them to share what they learned. This could be done as a class or by pairing students with someone who studied a different section. After students teach one another, consider inviting them to practice one or both of the following skills to help them use technology safely. For additional help, you may want to direct students to the resource “Taking Charge of Technology,” found at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
Planning ahead can help us take charge of technology
To help students apply what they learn, help them practice the following skill:
Define: Making a plan about how we will use technology can help us be anxiously engaged in doing good and not idle away our time. Seek Heavenly Father’s help when making a plan.
Model: Provide a model for students by inviting them to think of ways they can use technology successfully. You could do this by asking:
-
What are some ways you could plan ahead to take charge of your technology use?
Some possible answers are:
-
Consider how Heavenly Father wants you to use technology.
-
Have a purpose before you use technology (for example, contacting a friend on your phone).
-
Set daily time limits for technology use.
-
Establish device-free places, like your bedroom and the bathroom.
-
Charge your phone in a family station at night, away from your bed.
-
Use filters that block inappropriate or unsafe content.
-
-
Why do you think having a plan could make a difference?
Practice: Invite students to seek Heavenly Father’s help to make a plan for how they will take charge of their technology use.
Consider asking if any students would be willing to share their plan with the class.
Pausing can help us take charge of technology
To help students understand what to do when they encounter inappropriate media, the following skill may be useful:
Define: When we encounter inappropriate media, we can pause and take a break from using technology.
Model: Provide a model for students by sharing the following three steps that can help them pause and take a break from technology when they encounter inappropriate media. You could also direct students to the resource “Taking Charge of Technology” for more help with this.
-
Call it out: When you see content that’s inappropriate or that makes you feel bad, lonely, or uncomfortable, you can say, “This doesn’t feel right.” These feelings could be promptings from the Holy Ghost.
-
Make a better choice: You can turn off the device or silence notifications. You can go outside or move to another room, without a device. You can think of Jesus Christ or recall a favorite scripture to invite the Holy Ghost to be with you.
-
Connect with someone: You can talk to a friend or family member about how you’re feeling. You can pray to Heavenly Father.
Practice: Invite students to think of ways they can pause and take a break when they encounter inappropriate media.
If students would like, they can share their ideas with the class.
Share what you learned
-
What is something you learned from this lesson that you do not want to forget?
Conclude with your testimony that the Lord can help us use technology safely and wisely.