This week we decided to switch it up and interview a fellow entrepreneur who we met working in the field with a unique approach to a very real problem, ENJOY!

Interview with G. Taboris Taylor

Tell us about what you do?
I am G. Taboris Taylor, owner of Taboris Intelligence Training Group. I am an Independent Certified John Maxwell Life Coach, Trainer, Author, and Speaker specializing in Social Media Etiquette, Smartphone Addiction, and Emotional Intelligence Training as well as Coaching. I graduated from Dillard University with a B.S. Degree in Computer Science and have over 20+ years of combined experience in Speaking, Training and Mentoring Sales Professionals in Corporate America and 10+ years with the Federal Government. I have a passion for helping people develop coping mechanisms to deal with stress, depression, and rejection; as well as developing the Social and Interpersonal Skills necessary to succeed in life thus avoiding the pitfalls and consequences of living in a virtual and digital World.

What is one major problem you see with youth today?
Wow that’s a 64 trillion dollar question that everyone wants to know and there’s layers to it. There are 3 major problems.
1, No one is listening to the way their digital minds communicate. None of our leaders, politicians, or clergy.
2. The social graces and interpersonal skills that I learned growing up are not being taught anymore in schools, families, and church. Our young people are not saying Yes Sir or No Ma’am anymore.
3. Attention and likes are the new addiction and they will do just about anything to get it.

How does your work seek to solve it?
I wanted to do something to connect with today’s young digital minds. I help them master those critical social interpersonal skills that aren’t being taught anymore, in order to develop the natural defenses that help them deal with stress, depression, and rejection in the real world. While also being able to understand and arm themselves mentally before they reach the point of no return, and their no longer able to navigate the pitfalls & consequences of living in the digital world.

What you see manifested are those insecure, what I call Me Monsters, what we used to call selfish people, that we see all over Social Media, because the way that their digital minds communicate starts to turn into selfies kings and queens. Our training and brainasium strategies are geared to help them understand that their failure and success will happen in the real world with humans and not because of AI or technology.

What is the biggest misconception about Social Media and Kids?
Wow, that is a great question, I always say we need to have an honest, difficult, non-emotional conversation about where we are today. The biggest misconception is that only school-age and college kids use Social Media. According to the latest study, 78% of adults ages 30-49 were FB users, 65% of adults ages 50-65 indicated they used social networking as well.
Through a lot of our training with clients we’ve learned kids ages 5-14 thrive in real world situations without the use of smart tech or Social Media. Whereas the older you are the less secure you feel, and the more they don’t want to share or engage. They don't want to use their independent and critical thinking skills, because their so afraid of being judged or being wrong. And if their younger their more likely to throw that concept out the window.

What do you want young people to know about how they engage with Social Media? Listening, this generation today communicates much differently…..
Young people if you’re listening to me this is G. Taboris, this generation communicates much differently today than every other generation. Not realizing the long term potential consequences and pitfalls of an emotional response to a tweet, email, post, voice mail, or text message. Resulting in you having a permanent transcript of everything you say and do, and how it can be made public at any time. And you need to understand what goes online stays online, and can have severe long term career consequences. An unhealthy relationship with technology, can develop into an electronic dependency, which can look like cyberbullying better known as twitter thugs or keyboard warriors. All of this contributes to self esteem issues and smart-phone addictions.
Social Media should be in your life, your every thought and random moves should not be on Social Media. Back in the day we had these things called a diary, or personal journal. We wrote our thoughts in it, our daily activities, our secrets that even a best friend may not know, and it was kept under lock and key. Today everything is posted for public consumption and that creates a problem itself.

What’s the most valuable lesson you have learned working with the digital kids of today?
Creative Freedom! Even though our youth mimic what they see from leaders and parents, even though they at times act like cyborg species looking down never up, even though they appear to have a severe electronic imbalance at school, church, dinner, movies etc. they are highly intelligent, they love cool stuff, and like to hear about life before smart tech. They run circles around us old dinosaurs who are used to writing everything down, and only type with one hand, and they are one with tech, it’s apart of them. We just have to connect with how they communicate.

Could you recommend one book, one strategy, and one podcasts that parents & teachers could look to for additional support.

Book
Internet Dope is My Life; will smart tech kill a future generation.

Link to book

Podcast
“How to parent in a world of Social Media”. This is a great resource for parents. It’s not a blueprint, but it's a great place to start for parents who want to address this issue.

One Strategy
This is great for children ages 3-13. Take a $50 or $100 bill, their tablet or phone, and their favorite sugary snack. Put all 3 on the table. Tell them they can only pick one, and see which one they chose. If they take the treat they are a perfectly normal kid who doesn't understand money. If they take the money, and try to negotiate for the phone or the treat, then they understand money, and have mastered the art of negotiation. If they don’t blink or hesitate, and take the device and leave room then we need to talk. This mental check in allows you to see where your child’s thinking is.

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