Responding to the stress of social media ‘likes’ during the holidays and beyond

by Joanna Jullien | Dec 11, 2019 | addiction, Anxiety, Children's Health & Mental Health, Children's mental health, Discipline, Family, Internet Safety, Mobile Phone Use and Children, Parent-child relationship, Parenting, Social Media, Teenagers, Texting, Wisdom

A recent feature on Jersey 105.5 reminds parents that youth today experience stress with social media influences that can inspire great anxiety – especially around the holidays. There is more time to hang out on-line and young folks feel a pressure to take pictures to...

Who has more anxiety? You or your tech-savvy child?

by Joanna Jullien | Oct 24, 2019 | Anxiety, Bullying, Children & Teens Problems & Pitfalls, Children's Health & Mental Health, Cyber Safety, Cyberbullying, Discipline, Family, Mobile Phone Use and Children, Parenting, Relationship, Wisdom

As you may know, I am an ancient cyber mom trained in behavioral science at U.C. Berkeley. My sons are grown, 35 and 29 years old. I left a career in technology (circa 2004) when my youngest hit middle school and devices landed in the hands of youth. I wanted to...

Five habits of anxiety-proof families in a cyber-powered world

by Joanna Jullien | Oct 19, 2019 | Anxiety, Discipline, Faith, Family, Happiness, Internet porn, Mobile Phone Use and Children, Parenting, Prevention strategy, Social Media, Wisdom

A recent report by Pew Research Center indicates that anxiety and depression are among the top concerns for teens. According to the feature, the total number of teenagers who recently experienced depression increased 59% between 2007 and 2017, and the rate of growth...

Crucial social media topics: Brave versus risky

by Joanna Jullien | Aug 13, 2019 | Bullying, Children's Health & Mental Health, Cyber Safety, Discipline, Faith, Family, Internet Safety, Mobile Phone Use and Children, Parent-child communication, Parenting, Prevention strategy, Social Media, Wisdom

Concepts for crucial conversations Guidance for conversations with youth in a cyber-powered world, wherein it is easy to believe things that are not true and focus on things that do not really mater. Brave versus Risky Both can make you feel discomfort. However, you...

How to rebuild trust when you find these apps on your child’s smartphone

by Joanna Jullien | Jun 4, 2019 | Discipline, Faith, Family, Internet Safety, Mobile Phone Use and Children, Parent-child communication, Parent-child relationship, Parenting, Privacy, Social Media, Teenagers, Wisdom

One of the greatest challenges of parenting tech-savvy youth is balancing rules and relationships. There is much confusion between trust and faith and private and secret.  The biggest obstacle to building trust with tech-savvy youth is a parent’s fear which kills open...

Why devices are not to blame for a lack of connection with your child

by Joanna Jullien | May 28, 2019 | Anxiety, Boundaries, Children & Teens Problems & Pitfalls, Children's Health & Mental Health, Discipline, Faith, Family, Internet addiction, Internet Safety, Mobile Phone Use and Children, Parent-child communication, Parenting, Social Media, Substance abuse prevention, Teenagers, Wisdom

Recently I found a very honest and inspirational book on parenting at the local thrift store, entitled, The Key to Your Child’s Heart, by Gary Smalley. Published in 1984, Smalley (an author, educator, pastor, husband and father) shares some of the fundamentals of...