My friend Lisa Ford Berry of Carmichael, California, knows intimately how the individual is attacked by the bully culture of the crowd in cyber-powered communities (texting and social media). The voice of the crowd also threatens the bystanders who remain silent or pile on for fear of being different and then targeted themselves. The target becomes so isolated it can feel like there is no escape, no hope, no future left, and no point to go on living.

 Return to original story, “The wisdom of being brave in a cyber-powered world“.

I wrote this story for my friend Lisa Ford Berry’s book, Be B.R.A.V.E  Say Something, Do Something, to address the cyber-powered bully culture our children endure today. She became an advocate to change the education culture after her son Michael took his own life in response to an intense cyberbully campaign arranged by an individual who started …

CyberParenting Topics on The Fish 103.9FM Tuesdays

In hundreds of conversations with law enforcement, educators and pastors, it is clear that kids are doing things that most of us find “unthinkable” and many parents are caught off guard or remain ignorant.  From sending and receiving inappropriate or sexually explicit photos, gossip, bullying and abusing medications/alcohol, children are exposed to and engaging in activities that are beneath them at earlier ages.

There is no shortage of …

CyberParenting Topics on TheFish103.9FM Tuesdays returns January 8, 2013

In a cyber-powered world it is easy to believe we can “Google” everything we need to know.  This power to access information is very seductive, especially for young folks as discussed in a recent Birmingham Science City survey about where kids go for answers, and it isn’t parents and teachers.

But we don’t require a study to know this.  Do we?

The bigger question is: …

Making your home a sanctuary is a matter of what you believe about personal security. Our faith tells us that security starts from within every heart and mind. It is the thoughts we choose. (Philippians 4:8). Fear-based thinking disturbs the peace and keeps us separated from God’s love. It is a hopeless and powerless state of heart and mind.

And fear-based thinking is the consequence of evil deeds if we allow it.

Romans 12:21 “ Do not be overcome with evil, rather overcome evil with good.”

So how do we translate this truth with our children so that they can find the peace of Jesus in their hearts and minds?

In this context of the global network culture amplifying all things changing and uncertain, the American Republic is a model of authority that empowers us to confront the bully, or the insecure side, which for the founding fathers was simply defined as tyranny.

… “Whether it is meant this way or not, it feels like whatever you do or fail to do in high school determines the rest of your life,” said one class of 2010 Granite Bay senior who further explained that binge drinking and ecstasy are huge releases. “Students work hard and party hard,” declared this same teen…

Our cyber-powered culture amplifies adolescent pressures at earlier ages. For many, by the time they reach high school, there is a sense of urgency to be successfully established in a field of choice that has largely been determined by what youth believe will gain them acceptance and admiration by others: such as attending a top college, or getting into a field with high GPA barriers to entry, such as medical or engineering. (See Race to …

This is the introduction to the 2012 Spring edition of Banana Moments: Family Business Quarterly. Subscribers look for PDF attachment in your email. To receive the PDF with articles, subscribe.

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Greetings,

For this Spring 2012 edition of Banana Moments: Family Business Quarterly I chose to feature the book, What Color Is Your Parachute? 2012: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers by Richard Bolles because it offers very hands-on ways to discover our …