“It’s a lot,” an eleventh grader admitted to me recently. “There is always homework, updates to check, friends to respond to, and things to get done. Plus there is so much happening in the world right now. Sometimes I try to check out, but I still feel the pressure. It’s exhausting.” This student isn’t alone.… Read More →
“If you could design your own digital spaces, what would they look like?” I recently posed this question to a group of young people. As adults, it’s easy to focus on what we don’t like about the online world. It’s also easy to assume that we see the harms clearly while young people remain thoughtlessly… Read More →
“What is the site or platform you wouldn’t want to live without?” For years, researchers at Common Sense Media have asked kids and teens this question. It’s a revealing one—it cuts through the noise of ever-evolving platforms and trends to uncover the digital spaces that truly matter to young people. While news cycles tend to… Read More →
Sometimes it’s hard to observe transformative changes in real-time. We tend to look back and think, “Ah, that was when everything started to change.” When I set up my first “Friendster” account, it certainly felt new and exciting. I thought carefully about which songs and photos best represented “me” for my little corner of the… Read More →
There are moments when I look at my phone and think, “What a time to be alive!” The device in my hand is one thousand times faster than the last generation’s supercomputers. Our lives benefit from this small device’s connection, information, and efficiency. There are other moments when I long to slow down all that… Read More →
Mark Zuckerberg turned toward a group of grieving parents this week and issued a public apology. “I’m sorry for everything you’ve been through,” he said. “No one should go through what you and your families have suffered.” This latest admission at the Senate online child safety hearing was not the first time that Zuckerberg has… Read More →
While unpacking some holiday decorations I found a wish list that my kids had put together years ago. It was heartwarming and included items like “a live owl,” legos, books, and “surprise me.” While the live owl request required some conversation about animal safety, overall the lists were short, sweet, and offline. What grounded children! … Read More →
“I feel like I am back to my peak pandemic habits all over again,” a friend recently shared. He went on, “I am checking my phone all the time.” “That makes sense,” I responded with a sigh. “There is so much going on.” “The problem is that I feel like I need to be online… Read More →
When asked how much time this generation of kids spends on their phones, most of us would simply answer, “A lot.” Research backs this up. We have lots of data about average screen time and trends related to screen use. Yet rough measures of “screen time” only tell us part of the story. Learning more… Read More →
“I am just going to delay as long as I can,” a parent recently shared with me. She added, “I just don’t even want to deal with social media until high school.” “Yes, I can relate,” I replied thinking of my own middle schooler at home and my intermittent impulses to move deep into the… Read More →
