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- - - Our research focuses on examining the relationships between digital media and technology and young people’s mental, social, and emotional wellbeing and prosocial development.
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- - - Our initiatives are designed to advance our vision of an empathetic and respectful world in which our kids can grow up healthy, smart, and kind.
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- - - We translate research into resources designed to further our mission of promoting positive and healthy digital media experiences for young people.
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About
- - - We believe that by following the science, we can create an empathetic and respectful world in which our kids can grow up healthy, smart, and kind.

Digital Wellness Webinars

Join a Free Webinar to Help Guide Your Family’s Online Choices

The Digital Wellness Lab is excited to join with Verizon to cohost a series of free 1-hour webinars for caregivers and families. These webinars will provide evidence-based tips and guidance on devices and screens, social media, gaming, and digital wellbeing. These live events will feature interactive activities to help families build healthy digital habits together. Feel free to sign up for as many sessions as you’d like! Learn more and register below.

Webinar 1

Finding Balance

Four family members take a smiling selfie

Practical Strategies for Your Family’s Digital Wellbeing

“Are they ready?” It’s the question every parent asks — about first phones, first apps, first everything. Join the Digital Wellness Lab for a research-informed session built for parents at every stage of tech engagement, from weighing that first device to navigating the teenage years. Walk away with tools you’ll actually use: a readiness framework, a shared family tech plan, and strategies for media literacy and ongoing conversations that grow right along with your kid.

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

Assess readiness. For families considering a first device, evaluate both their child’s and their own readiness to take that step

Set up for success. Understand the key features, parental controls, and family settings that can help establish healthy digital habits from day one

Gauge independence. For families who already have a device in the home, identify where their child currently sits on the spectrum of digital independence and what that means for next steps

Build a shared tech plan. Create (or refine) a household technology plan that reflects their family’s values and can flex as kids grow

Webinar 2

Healthy Digital Habits

How to Support Your Child in Gaming, Social Media, and AI

“What are they actually doing online?” Between social media, gaming, streaming, and AI tools, it can be hard to keep up. Join the Digital Wellness Lab for a research-informed session built around our 5Ms of healthy digital engagement — a practical framework for navigating today’s online world with confidence. Get conversation starters that open dialogue instead of shutting it down, key media literacy habits for the whole family, and take-home tools including a game and platform management resources you can use right away.

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

Understand today’s digital landscape. Recognize what social media, gaming, streaming videos, and AI tools actually look like in kids’ daily lives, grounded in current research

Build media literacy. Learn key concepts and habits that help both parents and kids critically evaluate content, platforms, and AI-generated information

Open ongoing conversations. Use concrete conversation starters to talk with kids about social media, gaming, and AI, at any age or stage

Apply the 5Ms framework. Use the Digital Wellness Lab’s 5Ms of healthy digital engagement as a practical lens for guiding their family’s habits

Take home practical tools. Leave with a game, conversation starters, and platform management resources they can use right away.

Webinar 3

Let’s Talk Tech

A Live Q&A on Family Digital Wellbeing

“Am I doing this right?” Every parent asks it at some point. Bring your questions to our “Ask the Experts” open panel — the Digital Wellness Lab team will tackle what families ask most, from screen time struggles to social media worries to navigating new AI tools, starting with top FAQs, then opening the floor with no topic off-limits. Get real-time, research-informed answers to the questions that matter most for your family.

We’ll start with a set of frequently asked questions and then open up the discussion, with no topic off-limits. Don’t miss this chance to get real-time, direct, research-informed answers to the questions that matter most for your family.