Bombarded with technology, our kids can look up anything on the internet and they do. They have a distorted view of what is acceptable and a perception that anything goes when it does not. We have the world at our fingertips and are exposed to news around the world, both good and bad. We need to ensure that our kids get the truth: from us.

We don't want our youth to experience bullying, receive cruel text messages and/or e-mails, think suicide is an answer for anything, abuse cough medicine, prescription drugs, inhalants, any substance abuse, or experience the life stressors that our youth live with in today's world. Electronic or cyberbullying is highly accessible and can occur any time, both at school and home. Messages are distributed to a larger audience very quickly. It is often anonymous, encouraging youth to engage in behaviors they wouldn't do face-to-face. They may be nervous to report cyberbullying for fear that their time on their cell phone or computer will be limited. Bystanders and witnesses to the bullying are anonymous, too, so they don't have to deal with it face-to-face.

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