Are we too quick to demonise screens?

Too much time on screens can provide something of a health-hazard. Physically, emotionally, even arguably spiritually.

A huge number of column inches over recent days have been devoted to the perils of the screen-based online world for young people especially, following the release of Netflix’s Adolescence. Meanwhile, YouGov data released in March revealed that in the last year, the median Briton has only read or listened to three books. A staggering 40% of the public had not read or listened to a single book in that time. This perhaps becomes less surprising if you consider that in England, 18% of adults aged 16 to 65 – so 6.6 million people – have “very poor literacy skills”. If you were looking to increase Biblical literacy, you wouldn’t start from here.

For many young people, those with dyslexia, or just those whose attention span feels shorter in an increasingly screen-based world, being faced with the thick spine and tiny-seeming text of a traditional Bible can seem intimidating. Apps can help, alternate versions too, and many of us will fondly remember the Good News Bibles of our youth. But in our very visually-focused society, film-makers are increasingly finding the vision (and the funding) to turn to Biblical narratives for inspiration.