2020 Hindsight: Make this the year of creating a culture of connection at home

by Joanna Jullien | Jan 7, 2020 | Boundaries, Children's Health & Mental Health, Discipline, Faith, Family, Internet addiction, Parent-child relationship, Parental Authority, Parental control, Parenting, Social Media, Substance abuse prevention, Wisdom

Fifteen years ago, just before the advent of smartphones and social media, mobile devices landed in the hands of youth. At that time, my youngest hit middle school. He had purchased a “pay-as-you-go” mobile device with his own paper route money. My husband and I...

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...

Crucial conversations about the hidden agenda behind vaping and other things trending in your child’s life

by Joanna Jullien | Nov 26, 2019 | addiction, Anxiety, Children's Health & Mental Health, Family, Mobile Phone Use and Children, Motivation, Parent-child communication, Parent-child relationship, Parenting, Prevention strategy, Relationship, Social Media, Substance Abuse & Addiction, Wisdom

Executive summary The commercial interests hired experts to craft social media campaigns to engage minor-aged youth in vaping. The response to these commercial efforts using e-cigarette technology to get youth as nicotine consumers includes 1) a Surgeon General...

Nutrition tips to help youth deal with the emotional impact of social media

by Joanna Jullien | Nov 19, 2019 | addiction, Anxiety, Children's Health & Mental Health, Discipline, Family, Mobile Phone Use and Children, Parent-child communication, Parent-child relationship, Parenting, Prevention strategy, Relationship, Substance abuse prevention, Wisdom

Device addiction is a thing Commercial interests have used brain science associated with addiction to develop apps and devices that tap the same short-term reward system of the brain like a drug. In this way, the underlying biochemical dynamic with addiction is a...

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...

Thoughts that make you a secure parent, how to handle vaping and more

by Joanna Jullien | Sep 30, 2019 | addiction, Anxiety, Boundaries, Children & Teens Problems & Pitfalls, Children's Health & Mental Health, Children's mental health, Faith, Family, Mobile Phone Use and Children, Parent-child communication, Parent-child relationship, Parental Authority, Parental control, Parenting, Relationship, Social Media, Trauma-informed parenting, Wisdom

Fifteen years ago when I started this mission to strengthen the parent-child bond in a cyber-powered world my own confidence as a parent was deeply shaken. And while mostly I observed that the children were making good choices despite their peer pressures – still the...