It is no doubt that the teenage years, the beginning of puberty, brings about a host of brain and behavioral change. Each male teenager is different and goes through these changes differently. Her teenage boy is no exception. He had always been a handful though he appears quiet to most people.
She relates so well as she was like that at that age too. He once picked a gala on the head of the seller through the window of a commercial bus.
The mum was so shocked at the swiftness at which he picked the snack. He was just 3 years old at the time When he was 8 years old, she took him and his brother shopping for toys.
She bought what she could afford. She was terrified when she found a toy in his pocket after they got home. How he passed the scanner at the door still shocked her till today.
She imagined the humiliation of being caught shoplifting. They could have been arrested! He got his first android phone at age 10.
It was a low-grade android phone. Something to play games and watch children’s videos. It thrilled him so much. He was able to download games and cartoon videos as much as he wanted. No more boredom when there was no electricity supply. He just needs to charge the phone battery full ahead of power outage.
He clocked 13 and the low-grade android phone no longer appeared thrilling. He requested a higher-grade android phone in order to explore more. She promised to upgrade him with one of the newer version android phones if he performed well in his studies. He had been dwindling in his grades in school. He showed more interest in playing with phone than studying for better grades. At some point going to church was also not interesting to him. It is all about the phone and having fun in his life.
The first time she dared ask him to read his bible in place of playing games on his phone he cried bitterly like reading the bible was a punishment. She had to sit him down and give a well-deserved counselling on what the bible is and how it is as important to read the bible daily as it is to play games daily. He agreed to read at least a chapter of the bible a day before playing with his phone.
He did that for a while then stopped without her noticing to celebrate his 13th birthday and because he made good promise by getting better grades, she got him an upgraded android phone. The phone also serves as his source of internet for doing his school assignments. Events went from bad to worse from that moment onwards. Without her knowledge he opened a Facebook account with an unknown name. She got a Facebook request to accept someone naming her as his mother. While she was still wondering who the person could be she saw a message in her inbox. It was from her son with a strange name. He dropped messages introducing himself with his real name and that he was waiting for her to accept his request.
She was at work when she got the request. A million questions ran through her mind. How did he open a Facebook account? She believed he would not understand it. Where did he get data when she was not the one that gave him Wi-Fi connections? Immediately she got home she asked the pertinent questions running through her mind. He gave her answers that satisfied her for the moment.
She felt the need to monitor him more than before. From the close monitoring she noticed something she had not seen before; he was always hard She queried him on why he was so hard as such. He said it is nothing. She continued to watch him closely. She caught him chatting with a girl on Facebook messenger. Another time he was caught fiddling with his penis. Then she realized it is likely he had started watching pornographic videos.
At this point she realized she had to intervene before things got worse. She requested to have his phone for a look through. She went through the applications on the phone one after the other. One of the browsers popped up nude videos as she opened it. This confirmed what she had already suspected of him watching pornography. He said he did not know how to stop the notification from popping up. She uninstalled the offensive browser without any argument. She prayed on the matter for guidance on what to do.
As led by the Holy Spirit she started a daily bible reading plan with him. One plan on his phone and the same plan on her phone. She does not allow him to have the phone again except to do his school assignments and to tick off the chapters he had read on the bible plan (he read on his hard copy bible).
From the moment he started reading his bible daily she noticed a turnaround in him. No more masturbation or signs of watching pornography. He also became more responsible and respectful. He offered to assist her in doing some chores in the house. He also started expressing his concern towards her when she is burdened or stressed over anything. The Word of God changed him.
Abike, 2021
PS: We often make the mistake of thinking our children are too young to understand the scriptures. But we watch them gain academic knowledge and master the use of technology effortlessly. We push the day of their salvation but pushing it only exposes them to the world and its systems Introduce your children to the Holy Spirit today. Introduce your children to the word of God. The Word works. The Word transforms. The Word turns our realities around.