Social media and texting can inspire a very isolating experience for youth, with chronic stress that can lead to health issues (such as anxiety and depression). And because cyber technology is in every nook and cranny of our lives, home is no longer a sanctuary.

Lincoln resident and Life Coach, Barbara Stahl, is an 80-year-old grandmother, with “an interest in how we become who we are”. She has been studying genes and the human brain for a number of years, and offers a “fast forward” according to how current technology, cultural and biology trends are shaping the condition of our world. Based upon the insights she has gained from personal experience and brain science Stahl offers a very compelling epiphany for the future: “adolescents will be running the world.”

Jodie Stevens is the hostess of The Family Morning Show on 103.9FM The Fish in Sacramento, and the producer of Genuine Life with Jodie Stevens, a devotional about overcoming emotional difficulties including self-pity, anger, anxiety, addiction and low self-esteem. In a recent post, “How would Jesus want us to celebrate his birthday this Christmas”, she calls special attention to the challenges of the modern family, easily overwhelmed with gifting expectations that can lead us far away from the peace made possible by the birth of Jesus as the most precious gift to humanity.

The most challenging “banana moment” for the modern parent is when to issue your child a smart phone. It is a rite of passage that carries with it privileges, responsibilities and dangers tantamount to handing over the keys to the car. And it happens typically around middle school or upper grammar school grades. One of the reasons why it is so challenging to parent youth with mobile devices is that they are empowered by the feeling of no limits to communication, and they will naturally be resistant to parental oversight – especially when shame-inspired content transpires (i.e., sexting, bullying, gossip). And it is easy to keep secrets because cyber connectivity is so clandestine.

A recent Mamapedia post, “4 ways social media is ruining Christmas,” expressed dismay at the challenges social media present parents who are confronted with different beliefs about Santa. According to this mom blogger, two main ways social media appears to be ruining Christmas are the sanctimonious posts of parents who want their children to believe in Santa complaining about people who don’t support them, while others are adamant that Santa is a myth that we should just get over it.

Dr. Jessica Rodriguez, is a mental health and addiction specialist serving the greater Sacramento area. As CEO & Clinical Director at GatewayCorp in Sacramento, offering addiction, trauma, and family system services, she has a lot of experience working with eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia. “Eating disorders are intense,” she said. “They are the result of a toxic and shameful belief system that says, ‘Something is wrong with me.’”

A recent article by Naomi Schaefer Riley in the New York Post features the lack of parental confidence in a child’s ability to be responsible for their own security as a type of schizophrenia that looks something like this: little girls are wearing sexy Halloween costumes while college students are calling parents daily to make basic decisions about class courses and campus life. The article points to an “amorphous fear” of a culture that is not geared toward protecting children.

It's Christmas time and the number one request will be "can I get a smart phone”? At very early ages, kids desire to have their own device and they will tell their parents "everyone has one” and they will say it like they are dying inside. For many parents this is a very persistent and compelling request. And it is very important that you have a very clear idea in your own mind of when and how you want to see your child learn how to become a responsible user of her own smart phone. If your no is simply “resistance” your child will respond as if you are trying to control him. Your aim, is to say “No” with the authority that is genuine and reflects your confidence to provide direction on how and when your child will gain access to their own smart phone. For some families, it may be upon entering middle school, others high school and still other families may choose not to budget for smart phone services.

Bob Holmes is a one-man volley ball team who travels the country engaging teens to think radically differently about their value and their future in the face of enormous bullying pressure in their social networks to believe they are small and insignificant.

I have spent a great deal of time researching the impact of negative body image messages that our youth face. Whether secular or non-secular, within family systems, the school system, church, social media or literature, many of our youth live within unhealthy, dysfunctional, non-supportive family systems, and thus develop faulty beliefs about themselves and harmful behaviors which can lead to poor self image, unhealthy choices, behaviors to including eating disorders, addiction, process addictions, sex behaviors, and more. As you know from the research, information and trainings of Banana Moments Foundation, the complexity that social media, cyber world activities and the epidemic decline in family values, morality, sexual exploitation further complicate the world through the eyes of our youth. I am passionate about sharing this information to bring about a greater awareness for parents that may be reading this article.