Patrick speaks with Kiva, a 17-year-old who has never had a phone. Her Catholic family prioritizes real-life interactions and values. From attending Latin Mass to ballroom dancing, their choices bring genuine joy and connection instead of digital distractions. Kiva’s experience highlights the benefits of living intentionally and may inspire parents to rethink giving smartphones to their children.

 

• Al (email) - I quit porn cold turkey and did it at first by myself. I don't know if I could have kept it up by myself. Something has to fill the void. I chose Relevant Radio and have been growing every day. It's been 5 years. (00:31)
• Richard (email) - When I pray the rosary, do I have the pray the five mysteries within each day every time I pray the rosary? Or can I just pray one within each (joyful, sorrowful, glorious, luminous) every day? (01:55)
• Kiva (17-years-old) - I have never had a phone. (07:07)
• Nick – We have a 14-year-old and 16-year-old. My son is finding it hard to get his friends off their phones to play football. (17:21)
• John - When I was tempted by pornography, I would pray. Eventually the desires went away. (24:09)
• Maria - I have a grandson who is 11 and I gave him a cell phone but ended up taking it away. He now uses a smart watch to communicate and to keep track of him. It’s a great way to avoid phone use. (26:25)
• Katie - I have 6 kids, and we have a shared phone for the entire family. We try to minimize our phone usage but I still feel it is useful. We don’t want to depend on the phone for everything. (29:52)
• Rachel - My mom tried to do everything right, but we were still exposed to some bad things. (35:28)
• Steve - I gave my kid a smart phone at 11. The parental controls do have pitfalls. (41:36)
• Monica - Our younger son didn’t have a phone. Colleges asked him for his social media accounts, but he didn’t have a social media footprint. (44:53)
• Heidi – I’m reading The Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales. Can you speak a little about evil friendships? My husband thinks we can keep these friendships to bring them to Christ but I am concerned about their bad influence. (46:18)