EMPOWERING DIGITAL WELLNESS FOR KIDS | June 2023

Greetings Friend of the Lab,

Apologies for the long email, but I think you’ll find it worth reading to the end!

First up, I am happy to report that our inaugural Student Advisory Council was an incredible experience for all involved.

Last month, our council members — 10 high school students from all around the US — presented virtually to an audience of 40 tech, media, healthcare, and education leaders on topics including representation on social media, misinformation online, and regulation of screen time on TikTok. 

We were all impressed by the depth of their research, the insights they shared, and most of all, their fearlessness in speaking truth to power. And importantly, the industry leaders present took note, with some even texting their teams during the presentations to share the council’s recommendations.

“You all give me hope…you are the power for building this next generation of the internet and teaching younger siblings and kids how to develop healthy relationships with tech.
I'm really impressed.”

Tami Bhaumik, Vice President of Civility & Partnerships at Roblox

Learn more about the Student Advisory Council and check out their final presentations here.

At the Digital Wellness Lab, our work is focused on advancing digital wellness focused practices in the tech industry and embedding digital wellness in healthcare strategies because 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.

In other news… 

We are thrilled to report that the research from our August 2022 Pulse Survey was cited in the U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on Social Media and Youth Mental Health.

Since the advisory was released, many people have reached out to us to ask our point of view.

The gist is that we are in agreement with the recommendations contained in the advisory and we celebrate Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy's choice to highlight that the responsibility for supporting a more positive, healthy, productive digital ecosystem for young people is shared by all stakeholders, including technology companies, educators, policymakers, researchers, and families, and his offering of research-based, action-oriented guidance to each of these groups. 

We also applaud Dr. Murthy's focus on the need for critical digital skills-building within academic standards and for greater funding and support of independent research on the effects of social media on young people's mental health.

This advisory is evidence of the importance of our work and we look forward to being a part of the continuing conversation and the collective effort to support a healthy digital ecosystem for all.

If you have questions or would like to support our work, please email us at dwl@childrens.harvard.edu

Cori Stott
Administrative Director
The Digital Wellness Lab

Related Resources

Empowering Digital Natives: A Guide to Teaching Kids and Teens Essential Digital Skills

Parent’s Guide to Creating Shared Media Use Agreements

Parent’s Guide to a Child’s First Cell Phone

The Lab in the News

Mass. doctor on surgeon general’s social media warning WCVB Boston

Surgeon General warns about social media and youth mental health CBS News

Tips to help families manage screen time battles from Boston Children’s Hospital’s Digital Center Boston 25 News

How physicians can help parents address kids’ social media use American Medical Association

Six ways parents can help children avoid harmful effects of social media San Francisco Chronicle

The impact of video games on child development is often misunderstood NPR

What’s Happening in June

The start of summer will find us on the road sharing our digital wellness expertise at a convening of the Snap Safety Advisory Board in Santa Monica, CA and presenting on a panel at the National Law Enforcement Training on Child Exploitation Conference (ICAC) Conference in Atlanta, GA.

If you have friends, family, and colleagues who could benefit from this newsletter, please pass it on and encourage them to sign up to receive it themselves. Thank you!