In one of her mysteries (His Burial Too), writer Catherine Aird wrote, “If you can’t be a good example, then you’ll just have to be a horrible warning.”2 I have been both. The good news is, if as a parent you have been a terrible warning at one time or another, you can choose to be a good example starting immediately.

Parents do make mistakes and parents show rude behavior from time to time. But such behavior doesn’t have to be part of your permanent make-up.

I’m sure as a parent you have looked in the mirror and thought, That wasn’t my best moment. I have.

Not My Best Moment
Several years ago while on a family vacation, I had one such “not my best moment.” We were driving around a busy town I didn’t know very well. My driving ability has come under criticism from time to time while all of the family is

At the bank of Craig and Mary, our children can make deposits, withdrawals, earn interest and manage their trust accounts on their own. But our children do not have total “banking” privacy. When the question comes up in our home about privacy, we check their trust account statements.

Do our children deserve privacy? Does the bank deserve to give you money? The answer to each question could be yes or could be no. If you have a zero balance in your bank account, then no, the bank does not deserve to give you money. The same is true in our home. Do our kids deserve privacy? It depends on how much trust money they have in their account. I do believe that as children get older, they should have some level of privacy for healthy personal growth. However, as a parent, I have a responsibility to

What are we as parents to do? To read or not to read? That is the question.
Look over what a son and his father had to say about the topic of parents monitoring their child’s media.

About a year ago, my dad started monitoring my Facebook page. It’s super annoying. He can see everything I write and everything my friends write. He watches everything. Do I mind him monitoring my Facebook page? Yes, I do. —14-year-old boy

This is a boundary that is tricky, because it involves privacy. If you’re interested in a possible way to avoid at least some cell phone problems, consider signing a cell phone responsibility agreement with each of your children. Download (The Sample Agreement Here)

In a scene from an episode of Modern Family, mom Claire is talking:

Claire: “I’m feeling a little bit disconnected from Alex right now. Last week, I picked up her cell phone thinking it was mine and I accidentally read a few flirty text messages that were probably from a boy in her class, which is fine . . . or they’re from a drifter.” (10)

Can any parent out there give a testimony?

“I wish my son would understand that anything he posts online is not private. Posted information is public, searchable and permanent. . . . As it turns out, my little boy, my little angel, is not so angelic. Unfortunately, he had already learned

It will happen at some point. Either one of your child’s friends or, I dare say, your sweet little angel, will have something inappropriate saved or sent on their cell phone. When this day arrives how should we respond as parents? Here are four suggestions I think we should take a look at.

1. Respond Don’t React

When you come across a sext or inappropriate text on your child’s phone, the natural response will be to react. What I mean by react is freak out, yell, point, lecture, accuse and rant. I certainly understand. In some ways, it almost feels justifiable. Believe me, I have been there, yelled that.

When you do find something inappropriate on your child’s cell phone, create some space between you and your child to collect your thoughts. When you do this, you are not saying that what you saw or what you discovered was okay or that

The following is from chapter 9 of Faith and the Modern Family...

What is sexting? Sexting is sending, receiving or forwarding sexually explicit content, usually between mobile phones, and it may be happening more frequently than you think––with severe consequences. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and CosmoGirl.com found that 22 percent of girls ages 13–19, and 18 percent of boys ages 13–19 have sent or posted online nude or semi-nude images of themselves. (7)

When sending a sexually suggestive text without a picture, the number increases to 37 percent of girls and 40 percent of boys, with 48 percent of all teens between the ages of 13–19 saying they have received such a message. (8)

Most of the sexting between teens happens within the context of a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, with girls sending most of the suggestive images to their boyfriends. The consequences of sexting are compounded when the relationship dissolves and the boyfriend forwards the picture to his friends

In my opinion there are three important digital topics to talk about with your child.

1. Cyberbullying (Today’s post)
2. Sexting (The next post)
3. Posting (The next, next post)

Cyberbullying is the use of any form of electronic media to tease, harass, threaten, embarrass, intimidate or humiliate another person online. The old-school definition of bullying included many of the same words: “tease,” “harass,” “threaten” and “humiliate.”

The old-school definition also included the bully being present when the harassment was taking place. Usually, a bully was larger and stronger than other kids (think David and Goliath), just in case the bully had to back up his or her intimidating tactics. But new-school bullying––cyberbullying––is much different, and it’s getting worse:

Cyber Bullying is becoming more and more prevalent. From kids getting together on Facebook to ‘kick a ginger,’ to bullies posting videos of their attacks, we have a whole new world

What I like best about families is that each member is different. We look different, we act differently and we’re interested in different things. Each member has his or her own rhythm and beat. In a musical sense, rhythm is “The pattern of musical movement through time.”

I’m sure you have heard someone described as “marching to the beat of his [or her] own drum.” Usually that means the person has an internal beat or rhythm that is different from most people. It’s a statement about uniqueness and style.

We have many different instruments in our families. In fact, if you have a bigger family, you have a bigger band! But no matter how many people are in your band the goal is to always keep the rhythm!

Why march to the beat of the music playing across the street in someone else’s family when you have everything you need to create your own family rhythm? What I am talking about