My Tech-Wise Life by Amy Crouch and Andy Crouch

A teen challenges her fellow teens to make smart decisions about technology in My Tech-Wise Life.

My Tech-Wise Life: Growing up and Making Choices in a World of Devices by Amy Crouch and Andy Crouch. Baker Books, 2020. 208 pages.

Reading Level: Teens, ages 12 and up

Recommended For: Teens, ages 12 and up (note considerations below)

Do you set limits for your teens on their device usage? Do they make responsible decisions about when and where to use their phones? Are they on social media? Does social media seem to create feelings of insecurity in your teens? Do they use any device for schoolwork? Have your teens connected with long distance friends or family via a screen? As Amy says,

Technology isn’t going to magically disappear from the face of the earth, and we don’t want it to. Our phones and the internet doesn’t just make us insecure, they also improve our lives.

Amy Crouch, p. 27

Writing directly to her (presumably) young readers, Amy is honest about her struggles, her gains, and her peers’ use of device-related technology. Each chapter starts with “we don’t have to…” and concludes with such habits and sins as comparing ourselves, lying, and even losing sleep. Charts and graphs of statistics from Barna pepper this short book, adding veracity to Amy’s claims about typical teen behaviors related to using screens and internet-based technology. Each chapter of Amy’s concludes with questions and suggestions for applying the material. Andy Crouch follows each chapter with a letter to his daughter based upon his initial reading of her chapter.

This is a small, hardback book that is easy to read—perfect for teens who’ve grown used to skimming screens instead of reading slower print-based text. Amy’s tone is casual and engaging, but she packs a lot of truth and insight into her observations and suggestions. Her youthful presence is the perfect touch; this is not a book in which an adult decries all tech, but one in which a fellow teen has come alongside her peers, offering wisdom and encouragement to make better choices. Use this book for a teen Sunday school class, a family book club, or as part of teen book club and challenge teens to life a “tech-wise life”; the material makes for great discussions. If your teens read this, don’t be surprised if they start asking you hard questions about your device usage.

Considerations:

• Amy is frank about the dangers of images online as well as how infrequently most parents discuss sex and similar issues with their teens. She handles these discussions well, but some parents may wish to wait until their children are a little older than 12 or 13. Much of a parent’s decision in this case will depend on the devise usage their children engage in.
• Amy talks much about the love of God and healthy relationships, but she doesn’t talk much about the gospel. I’d like to push her a bit on this (if we were in conversation with one another), and it’s something I’ll bring up with my own teens when they read this book later this year.

Overall Rating: 4.25 out of 5

• Worldview/Moral Rating: 4.5 out of 5
• Literary/Artistic Rating: 4 out of 5

Read more about our ratings here.

Related Reading From Redeemed Reader

• A Review: The Tech-Wise Family by Andy Crouch (really, a must read for parents alongside My Tech-Wise Life!)
• A Review: 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You by Tony Reinke

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