The beliefs to which our children are exposed tell them they are neither important, nor good enough unless they lower standards for personal security and surrender their inherent authority in the name of “freedom”...

The new Time cover features a photo of a mother nursing her four year old son (he’s standing on a chair to reach her breast).  A cyber-powered controversy ensued and today the mother on the cover speaks out to defend herself.

Motherhood is as much an extremely personal experience, as it is a nurturing/socialization role shared by many. When we start to judge and measure  our motherhood decisions (stay at home, breast feeding,…

Cyberbullying is one of the prevailing concerns of parents and what most people do not realize is that bullying requires a victim mentality as every bully will tell you why they are offended by the target and why she deserves it.

...Today, kids believe they can Google anything and everything they need to know, and they are empowered by cyber connectivity to meet and exchange ideas and information without the stewardship of adults....

Starting this Tuesday, May 1, Joanna will be featured as the CyberParenting expert on The Fish 103.9fm Tuesday mornings at 6:40 and 7:20am (Pacific Time) with Jodie Stevens.

Chapter 6 – Authority of the Indomitable Human Spirit 

Jeff Mason’s Story

(This excerpt from The Authority In Me, a book by Joanna about  the power of family life in the network culture, addresses the challenge of parenting when our children have fallen into the traps of risky choices and buy the lies of the network culture – and how important the voice of parental wisdom is for our children at home and in our…

“I would rather be in prison with a clear mindset than in society as a troubled kid with a substance abuse problem…. My family’s continuous love and encouragement makes me want to be a better person.” – Ryan Crandell

When our children do the unthinkable, like suicide, use and or abuse of drugs or alcohol, dealing drugs, burglarizing homes, or armed robbery – it is one of the most devastating things that a parent can experience. The idea of “who” their child is, a healthy, productive citizen with a good future, has been murdered by a series of poor choices that can only be owned by the child.

When children are not grounded first by connection to the family, someplace secure where they belong, make contributions and are valued, they are vulnerable to the whims of the network, sometimes playful and sometimes sinister energy promoting actions and beliefs that are not always in alignment with our values.

In her book, Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less From Each Other (2011), Sherry Turkle, a technology and society specialist at MIT, addresses the question of whether we as humans will determine how to keep busy the cyber technology that  automates our lives and disrupts, or acts as an impervious substitute for, genuine human interaction. 

From social media to robots, Turkle observes that we are a society experimenting with a…