Number of Friends on Facebook Linked to Increased Stress Hormone in Kids
Number of Friends on Facebook Linked to Increased Stress Hormone in Kids A new study finds that more than 300 friends on Facebook increase cortisol levels in kids. Cortisol is the stress hormone. Cortisol plays many roles in the body. It helps the body with regard to metabolism including the use of glucose and fat for energy. It also helps the body manage stress. Cortisol levels can be altered by many conditions, such as emotional or physical stress, injury, activity and infection. Did you ever think that the number of friends your child has on Facebook may have an impact on cortisol levels and...
Read MoreBedroom Jihad and ISIS Recruiting
Bedroom Jihad and ISIS Recruiting Paris! The Boston Marathon bombings! Russian airliner! Beheading of James Foley and others! First and foremost, our hearts go out to the people of Paris. This massacre has disturbed us all greatly. I can’t stop thinking about it and the tremendous sadness the people of Paris must be feeling! Politicians are saying that ISIS is coming here. I say it’s here. I live in the Boston area and saw detail after detail of the Boston Marathon murders, knowing people who ran that race. Thank God, no one I knew was injured! ISIS is using the...
Read MoreParenting Online is not Spying!
Parenting Online is not Spying! Unless you have kids online you may not truly understand all of the risks. It’s really important that parents understand that “Parenting Online” is not Spying! It’s bad enough that the obvious online risks include: cyberbullying, sexting, online predators, meeting up with strangers they’ve only met online internet addiction, Then there are the not so obvious risks: children randomly connecting with strangers in chatrooms who often expose themselves, inappropriate websites and the url sounds harmless, i.e. dancingdeer.com is a holiday...
Read MoreOnline Rejection Hurts!
Online rejection hurts! The sting of rejection and shunning has risen to a whole new level using social media! Social media provides many opportunities for connecting. But it also provides many opportunities for rejection using the many social media sites and apps available today. Rejection online can be done anonymously and can go viral quickly. It can be as simple as not receiving a Facebook like on a posted pic to seeing an image of a party that you weren’t invited to. Or maybe you were in a relationship and now you see your boyfriend or girlfriend’s status is single. That can really hurt. We’ve...
Read MoreSchool is Back… So Are Cyber-Risks!
School is Back… So Are Cyber-Risks! School is back… It’s time to wake up and get going. Hopefully you won’t have to get out a marching band to wake up your child in the morning. Hopefully your child is getting enough sleep and is not on their device late at night so that they can get up. And also, did you know that getting only six hours of sleep can lead to the common cold. So put those devices away at night! So here we go, a typical school morning… Wake up, get dressed, change outfits several times, spend hours noticing that one pimple and then covering it up with gobs of make up, fixing the...
Read MorePerfect Storm for Tweens and Teens Online
Combine the perfect storm of raging hormones and devices… Combine the perfect storm of raging hormones with smartphones/tablets/computers and what do you get? Tweens/Teens doing dumb things online. Kids will always do dumb things online and offline. Why? Because they are not miniature adults as many like to believe. They are adolescents with underdeveloped brains. The undeveloped part of the brain that helps them make good decisions, have good judgment and control impulsive behavior is not fully developed until an adult reaches the age of 24. Having friends/peers in the mix increases...
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