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)...

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.”

Indeed relating to the modern child, (who is more worldly and empowered by the feeling of validation in a tap-and-click world), requires more proactive thought, reflection and conviction about your personal worldview. In generations past, the social norms for civilized conduct and compassion for fellow human beings were generally supported by the wider community norms and children were socialized at home and school accordingly. Today, the modern culture of entitlement amplified by internet-powered connectivity blurs the boundaries for personal responsibility and security.

On Tues. Oct. 21 and again on Oct. 22, Rocklin resident Peggy Harper Lee , author of Spoiled: Fresh Ideas for Parenting Your Entitled Child at Any Age (2012) , will be speaking at St. Joseph Marello Catholic Church in Granite Bay about the skills to overcome the power and discipline issues with children of all ages. Lee, a mother of five ages 32 to five, developed the material for her book from her financial consulting practice. She found that many of her client’s financial issues were related to the expenses associated with entitled children of all ages. “Parents today are from the ‘achievement’ generation,” she said, “And so there is a tendency to blur the parenting and child lanes in order to accomplish personal goals.” The net impact can be the formation of a disabling dependency wherein children depend on someone else to be responsible for their lot in life, which is compounded by the network culture that features instant gratification centered on self. Some examples include failure to launch, as adult children lack the motivation to find a way to make it on their own; and expectations that parents will pay for the desires the child cannot afford or for which he is not willing to work; to resistance and hostile reactions to expectations to helping around the house and doing homework.

The pursuit of truth is difficult when emotions are high and this is especially true in the social network. Cyber-powered connectivity can intensify the temptation to rush to judgment without all the facts and it is difficult to maintain a perspective informed by the aim to pursue justice before the pursuit of truth has even begun...

The tap and click tablet, internet-enabled world conditions us for instant gratification. How many of us become impatient when an application takes too long to process a command? Yep. Thirty seconds can feel like an eternity. In the cyber social realm impulsivity, a lack of patience, can lead to aggressiveness and a bully climate when our personal expectations are not immediately met or when we are displeased or disturbed. Let’s face it, in a “me”-centered world there can be no peace.

For me, becoming an adult is a work in process. Learning and Knowing how to be happy and finding joy in life is one of the biggest factors for becoming an adult. I think this quote says it all. Happiness isn't about what happens to us - it's about how we perceive what happens to us. It's the knack of finding a positive for every negative, and viewing a setback as a challenge. If we can just stop wishing for what we don't have, and start enjoying what we do have, our lives can be richer; more fulfilled - and happier. The time to be happy is now! Here are some great opinions of people of all ages who have answered this question.

Over the past decade I have come to appreciate that one of the most important things parents can do for the sake of our children and ourselves is to put aside shame. Let us consider the things that show up in dramatic, cyber-powered fashion that impart shame:

Many businesses fail for many reasons, with one of them being because the people that run and work there do not show professionalism in their work, communication, or attitude when they are representing their company or organization while on the job. These people are usually late, look strange and don’t follow through, or they make excuses. It does not matter what sort of business you are in; in order to succeed you must act professionally any time you interact with customers or potential customers. Even if you are an eccentric artist, you still have to act like a businessperson if you want people to give you their money. What makes you seem professional? Here are some thoughts.

If we define citizenship as the quality of an individual's response to membership in a community, then digital citizenship in a free society must incorporate the value of individual liberty and the capacity to “stand alone” at times. So when does being “connected” to the network actually bully the individual to give up independent thought? When the intimidation is so intense that there is only one option: “go along in order to get along”. Eventually independent thought isn’t perceived as an option.