Saturday, August 27th, 2016
So while I understand people are not receptive to religious dogma, and I am not a theologian, the freedom to worship, or not worship God is central to this civil liberty of our free society. It is freedom of religion, not freedom from religion that makes individual liberty possible. (See Dale Carnegie’s book, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, 1944). God does not make us worship him. It is a choice granted by Him. This free will also gives us and our children the realization that we can think for ourselves and improve our own lots (one family, neighborhood, and community at a time) because God’s grace is endless and His mercy is abundant for those who fix their minds on even just one mustard seed of faith.
Posted in Children & Teens Problems & Pitfalls, Children's Health & Mental Health, Cyber Safety, Faith, Family, Financial literacy, Mobile Phone Use and Children, Parental control, Parenting, Social Media, Substance Abuse & Addiction, Texting, Wisdom | Comments Off on Teaching tech-savvy youth about who is in control
Saturday, March 26th, 2016
... it is important to consider how humans are capable of making their own “hell” on earth (i.e., feelings of isolation, powerlessness and worthlessness) by believing things that are not true, acting on them (thus disturbing the peace) and focusing on things that don’t really matter. This is the danger as the cyber realm becomes a single point of reference for life. Bullies, pedophiles and sex traffickers are counting on it...
Posted in Anxiety, Bullying, Children & Teens Problems & Pitfalls, Children's Health & Mental Health, Cyber Safety, Cyberbullying, Family, Mobile Phone Use and Children, Parent-child relationship, Parental control, Parenting, Relationship, Social Media, Substance abuse prevention, Teenagers, Wisdom | Comments Off on Teaching youth mindful use of social media: An app for the heart and mind
Wednesday, March 23rd, 2016
This generation of teens is the incredibly lonely – a great irony considering the ubiquitous role cyber technology plays in the life of modern teens with ongoing conversations in large networks populated by group photos, shared selfies and “likes” 24 hours a day.
Posted in Boundaries, Bullying, Children & Teens Problems & Pitfalls, Cyber Safety, Cyberbullying, Faith, Family, Friendship, Happiness, Honesty, Mobile Phone Use and Children, Parent-child relationship, Parental control, Parenting, Privacy, Social Media, Teenagers, Texting, Wisdom | Comments Off on What teens need parents to know about their social media experiences: Loneliness is the new norm
Tuesday, March 15th, 2016
Certainly for families technology can be a very disruptive influence. The power crisis of mobile connectivity landing in the hands of youth, happening today at earlier ages, can be summed up in one question: when it is easy to believe that you can simply google anything you think you need to know, who needs a parent, teacher, coach or a benevolent deity to impart wisdom?
Posted in Boundaries, Children & Teens Problems & Pitfalls, Cyber Safety, Faith, Family, Mobile Phone Use and Children, Parental control, Parenting, Privacy, Sexting, Social Media, The Law, Wisdom | Comments Off on Cyber safety and the art of compromise: Balancing family security and privacy
Sunday, March 13th, 2016
A recent New York Times article featured a recent survey led by the University of Washington that indicated youth do not appreciate parents posting photos and sharing about their life events. According to the report, the children were more concerned about what the parents were posting about them than the parents. The survey results indicated that three times more children than parents agreed there should be rules for parents posting stuff about their children on-line.
This problem of living with a paparazzi-type lifestyle made possible with social media exposes youth to ...
Posted in Children & Teens Problems & Pitfalls, Faith, Mobile Phone Use and Children, My two cents, Parent-child communication, Parent-child relationship, Parental control, Parenting, Privacy, Social Media, Wisdom | Comments Off on Family-safe on-line photo sharing and posting tips
Monday, March 7th, 2016
While many parents are concerned for the personal security of their children using mobile devices and apps, one of the subtlest concerns that can impact a child’s future college and employment opportunities is their social media presence. Many college admissions departments are integrating the data gathered by the social media profiles of students.
Posted in Career Planning & Child Employment, Cyber Safety, Education, Faith, Family, Mobile Phone Use and Children, Parenting, Privacy, Social Media, Teenagers, Wisdom | Comments Off on Which is more important? Your child’s SAT scores or their social media profile?
Sunday, February 28th, 2016
Every modern parent must consider that in their cyber realm, youth accessing and using drugs without direction of a physician may seem like such a normal thing to do – especially when responding to the amount of stress and peer pressure hyped in social media.
Posted in addiction, Anxiety, Children's Health & Mental Health, Cyber Safety, Depression, Internet Safety, Mobile Phone Use and Children, My two cents, Parent-child communication, Parental control, Parenting, Social Media, Substance Abuse & Addiction, Texting, Wisdom | Comments Off on 5 things every parent needs to know about today’s marijuana
Wednesday, February 24th, 2016
Do you remember the first time you experienced shame as a child?
I do.
When I was about seven years old, a neighbor’s child brought out a Polaroid photo of his mother, taken by his father, and showed it to all of the children gathered on the sidewalk. He had found it in her underwear drawer.
Posted in Bullying, Children & Teens Problems & Pitfalls, Cyber Safety, Cyberbullying, Faith, Mobile Phone Use and Children, Parent-child communication, Parent-child relationship, Parental control, Parenting, Privacy, Relationship, Sex and sexual exploitation, Sexting, Social Media, Teenagers, Texting, Wisdom | Comments Off on Examining the shame and bully climate impacting modern youth
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2016
Spencer explains that virtue is simply a habitual and firm disposition to do the good that comes from self-discipline. “Virtue is the center point between two opposing extremes, while vices are the extremes themselves,” Spencer said, “And virtue is a habit that is learned through repetition and practice; it is a habit that is learned when we model it for youth in our own lives, and parents are the first and hopefully the best teachers of virtues.”
Posted in Cyber Safety, Faith, Family, Mobile Phone Use and Children, Parent-child communication, Parental control, Parenting, Social Media, Wisdom | Comments Off on Vices, virtues and cyber safety: Family conversation tips
Monday, February 22nd, 2016
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.
Posted in Anxiety, Children & Teens Problems & Pitfalls, Children's Health & Mental Health, Children's mental health, Faith, Family, Friendship, Happiness, Mobile Phone Use and Children, Parent-child communication, Parental control, Parenting, Privacy, Sexting, Social Media, The Fish 103.9FM Cyber Tues | Comments Off on When to say yes and how to say no to ‘friend requests’