What do tech-savvy teens need from parents? They need parents to provide a safe place where they can talk about the real pressures and insecurities they face.

When to say yes and how to say no to friend requests is an important life skill for youth growing up with the intensified peer pressures of social media. In his book, Hurt.20: Inside the World of Today’s Teenagers (Youth, Family, Culture), Dr. Chap Clark concludes that the modern teen, with all of the on-line connectivity to peers and family is an incredibly lonely and stressed out generation of adolescents. And according to Student Society For Science, a recent study finds that youth with too many friend connections in their social networks are at risk for increased levels of stress which floods the brain with cortisol thus impacting learning as well as quality of life and mental health.

I often get calls from parents who are concerned about their kids dyslexia, ADHD, reading, writing, spelling, or math skills. And within our conversations it shortly becomes apparent to me that there is an additional problem that is interfering with their child's learning: having poor executive function skills.

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.

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.

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

Mobile connectivity use is difficult to regulate because it can be very addictive. Brain science tells us that the interaction with the device has the same effect on the brain as a drug because it stimulates the same reward system of the brain, dopamine. A new study finds that heavy use of the internet by teens may create a risk …

A recent article in the Setonian features the dangers of texting while walking on campus, including bumping into walls and other people, tripping and falling and walking into oncoming traffic. In this way, with the advent of mobile connectivity, I have learned that being present is something that we take for granted, as if it is some kind of an effortless thing when indeed it is not. And the more we experience the impact of mobile connectivity seemingly omnipresent in every device, room, gathering and relationship – well, it frankly, becomes more difficult to simply be present and give one another undivided attention, much less pay attention to our surroundings while traveling by foot or from behind the wheel.

A Center for Disease Control study on Childhood Stress with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, explains there are three types of stress: positive, tolerable and toxic. Toxic stress is chronic and can lead to health issues. According to the report updated in May 2011: “Toxic stress results from adverse experiences that may be sustained over a long period of time. This kind of stress can disrupt early brain development, compromise the functioning of important biological systems, and lead to long-term health problems.” Along those lines, consider texting and social media as an example of chronic teen stress that can be like peer pressure on steroids and inspire high anxiety.

Featuring his new book, Hurt 2.0: Inside the World of Today's Teenagers, Clark addressed the social, cultural and biological dynamics of growing up in today’s world and offers insights for parents whose own development experience cannot compare.

This morning Banana Moments Foundation, a Roseville non-profit education center to strengthen parent and child trust bonds in a cyber-powered world, hosted a symposium on teaching youth to know their own worth. The symposium took place at the headquarters of Living Smart Foundation, a non-profit youth financial literacy and employment center in Carmichael. Marie Hall, founder of LSF, was one of the featured speakers who explained self worth as the engine of prosperity. “When I teach youth about financial literacy, I don’t start off by talking about money,” she said. “I teach to the psychological aspect of money – the beliefs, desires and values that impact decisions about earning, spending and saving.”