Articles
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What’s Going With Us: A Guide for Parents from a Teen
Ibne Tamim is a senior at Manhattan Center For Science and Mathematics High School in New York City. Her passion and interest in behavioral and cognitive psychology…
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How You (and Your Kids) Can Feel Empowered by Social Media
All parents want the same thing: to raise their kids to be good humans. Part of that means learning what we can and passing that knowledge on to our kids.
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What the Pandemic Did to Us: My Experience and a Little Advice for Parents
I was a freshman in high school when COVID-19 first hit in the middle of March, 2020. Like every other student, I was more than happy not to have school for two weeks. But as the break kept getting extended, I started to actually miss school, which was something I never thought I would say.…
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Intern Spotlight: Sam Schwamm
Meet our graduate research intern, Sam Schwamm! Sam is a second-year Master’s student in the Eliot-Pearson Child Study and Human Development program at Tufts University. He joined the Digital Wellness Lab in September and will be with us for the 2022-2023 school year. As an intern at the Lab, Sam provides support on multiple Lab…
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Michael Carter, Ph.D, Adds to the Lab’s Expertise
Within his role as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in Digital Wellness, Michael will work with the Lab to investigate ways to advance the design of interactive media for the health and well-being of youth. Dr. Carter’s previous research focuses on the intersection of media and mental health among young adults and adolescents. Most recently, his…
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Our Latest Pulse Survey Results Are In!
Do you ever wonder what your teenager is thinking as they scroll through their phone or sit glued to their laptop? Parents have a lot of opinions about their kids’ media use, but what are the kids’ opinions? In our most recent Pulse Survey (Adolescent Media Use: Attitudes, Effects, and Online Experiences), the Digital Wellness…
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Is Your Child’s Screen Use Damaging Their Eyes?
The American Academy of Ophthalmology has proclaimed that August is Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month, which is dedicated to preventing eye injuries and vision loss. Healthy vision is essential to a child’s ability to reach appropriate physical, social, and emotional milestones.
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What’s a Pulse Survey?
One of the ongoing challenges of researching media and technology is that the digital landscape changes rapidly, often outpacing the research. Pulse Surveys help us keep up. Pulse Surveys allow us to collect data quickly, returning to similar audiences and measuring participants’ opinions and experiences on various topics. We conducted our first Pulse Survey in…
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Zoey Yue, Ph.D is Bringing New Insight to the Digital Wellness Lab
We’re excited to welcome Zhiying (Zoey) Yue, Ph.D., to the Digital Wellness Lab this summer as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in Digital Wellness. Within her role, Zoey will be working with the Lab team to study the effects of emerging technologies in the realm of social media on young people’s mental health. Dr. Yue’s prior…
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Ask the Experts: How do I model good digital media and tech habits for my kids?
How do I model good digital media and tech habits for my kids? As the saying goes, actions speak louder than words. Drawing from what we know from research, this concept also applies to digital media use — what children observe their parents and siblings doing has a more substantial influence on them than being…
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Get the Family Outdoors with Digital Tech to Celebrate National Health and Fitness Day
Every day is a good day to get your family outside and moving but today is National Family Health and Fitness Day, which is a fantastic excuse to put a little extra elbow grease into planning some family outdoor activities. If the thought of peeling your kids away from their screens makes you want to…
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What To Do When… Your teen seems to prefer spending time online than with their family or “real world” friends
If it seems like your teen would rather spend time on their phone than with their family or even their IRL friends, you’re not alone. It’s normal for adolescents to prefer time with their social group over time with family, but there are some conversations you can have to help your teen create more balance…
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What To Do When… It’s time to move your young child away from a screen
For parents of young children who struggle to take away tablets or phones or to turn off beloved TV shows without inciting tantrums, we offer strategies and conversation starters to help make the transitions easier.
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What To Do When… You want to teach your child how to play games with rules
Interactive games support your child’s development of reading, communication, and math skills. They also offer a great opportunity to build your child’s social emotional competencies. We offer strategies for conversations while you’re playing games together, to maximize the fun and learning.
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What To Do When… You discover a caregiver is using more media with your child than you’re comfortable with
It’s not uncommon for daycares, babysitters, and other caregivers to use media and screens to entertain children during the day. We offer strategies for parents who want to address their children’s use of media within these settings without feeling judgemental.