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.

... 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...

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.

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?

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 ...

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.