With youth wellbeing increasingly described as being in crisis, there is growing urgency to explore how digital environments can better support young people’s social and emotional development. Social-emotional learning (SEL) plays a critical role in helping youth build empathy, manage emotions, and develop healthy relationships—skills that support long-term thriving across school, work, and life. Yet traditional, school-based SEL programs face significant challenges in scale and implementation.
The Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital and Education Development Center explored how SEL can be meaningfully embedded into the technology and media that young people already use every day, particularly social media, gaming, and streaming platforms. Drawing from semi-structured conversations with 32 experts across education, technology, research, and youth perspectives, the report outlines key opportunities and challenges for designing digital spaces that promote social-emotional development.
Eight actionable strategies for platform developers and technology leaders are presented, along with research and design considerations for integrating SEL in ways that are accessible, authentic, and developmentally appropriate. This report, commissioned by the Ruderman Family Foundation, provides a foundational framework for cross-sector collaboration aimed at enhancing youth wellbeing through intentional, SEL-informed media design.