After ten years of fieldwork devoted to understanding what it means to grow up in a cyber-powered world and the new demands on parents, it is clear that the new demands on parents are as follows:

The most important thing parents can teach children in order to groom them for cyber-safe use of texting and social media is that they already have power and it must be defended. It is like the teacher saying, “You already have an ‘A’. Your assignment is to defend it.” The seminal question for the modern teen is, how much personal power will you surrender to the bully, the drug or the device?

Yesterday, the Soroptimist International of Lincoln, a community service club, held a Teen Esteem event, which featured motivational speaker, Jenny Williamson, CEO of Courage Worldwide, a Sacramento region non-profit dedicated to restoring the lives of girls rescued from sex trafficking. “First figure out who you are, not what to do. Once you figure out who you are, then your heart will lead you,” she said. “Do what your heart calls you to do.”

Every day youth are exposed to the latest digital hangouts – most of it is adult swim, content that features bullying (ask.fm, YikYak), addiction (drugs and alcohol glorified) and exploitation (gratuitous sex and consumer hype). This reality of the cyber realm, this brave new world can be intimidating to confront if you are the parent of a middle schooler. A recent Contra Costa Times article featured awareness with the title: “There is nothing simple about parenting in the digital age”. Well, I beg to differ.

While the drive to fit in and feel connected is prominent during adolescent years anyway, this drive is intensified and can be used against them in very powerful ways with mobile devices and apps like Twitter, Instagram and SnapChat. Cooper Anderson sums up beautifully how being 13 is different today with social media: “There are so many more witnesses.” When we aim to have a relationship with a crowd, our life focus centers on pleasing people which inspires great anxiety. The simple truth is that self worth is first realized from within and then expressed outwardly; it is that inner knowing that we were created uniquely for a purpose that cannot be found by consulting the crowd or measured in worldly terms (sex, approval ratings, and money)...

Over the past decade, conversations with and press releases from law enforcement have given me a very powerful overview of how on-line predator’s snare youth with fear and fakery, and what parents can do to help thwart their evil schemes. Below are some insights to consider when parenting children to learn how to safely navigate the social network.

Cyber Safety for Families with Joanna and Jodie on 103.9FM The Fish Family Morning Show

As a mom of two grown sons, I left the corporate world in 2004 when my youngest son hit middle school to better understand what it means to grow up in a cyber-powered world and the new demands on parents. My mother heart wanted to know how we are supposed to provide protective cover for youth who have literally have …

A recent article by Medical Press released new survey data about the health concerns for youth, featuring sexting and internet safety at the top of the list along with childhood obesity. According to the report, the level of concern about internet safety and sexting ranks higher than youth smoking. The impact of cyber technology on the health and well being of our young “really dominates the story this year,” the report said.

Last month, for example, the Sacramento FBI office reached out for public assistance to identify victims of a sextortion pedophile who had terrorized over 350 girls ranging in age from 12 to 14 years. This is every parent’s nightmare for their tech-savvy child; that a sexual predator would seduce and then deface your child’s sense of worth, liberty and dignity. His method of operation was to introduce himself on-line as a teen boy who expressed interest, and then convinced them to compromise themselves with sexually explicit images. Once he had enough to threaten to expose them to their family and friends, he continued to demand more sexual favors which he recorded and documented for his pleasure and profit. All of this transpired on-line and in their own homes.

My two cents

A recent Washington Post article featured a disturbing trend that young girls, tweens and teens, are experiencing and witnessing sexual exploitation, harassment and sexual assault in the internet celebrity culture. Social media celebrities on Vine and YouTube, for example, are amassing large followings – some of them over 2 million and mostly girls 12 and 13 years old,who are eager to connect with and please on and off line.

This Sacramento Cyber …