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Thriving in a Digital World

PAST EVENT
October 2, 2024

How do we support young people navigating the risks and potential of our increasingly digital world?

On October 2, GTY spoke with Dr. Emily Weinstein and student leaders from the Center for Digital Thriving at Harvard University and Kevin Connors of Susan Crown Exchange.

Top Takeaway

Young people are critical partners in understanding the problems and designing solutions re: technology use. Their experiences with technology are complex, dynamic and more nuanced than many adults realize.

More Takeaways

  1. Treating digital spaces as separate from “real life” ignores how young people’s experience technology—digital connectivity is interwoven throughout young people’s lives.
  2. Applying evidence-based behavioral and mental health practices can support young people in their uses of technology.
  3. Education to build skills and knowledge for digital thriving is needed across learning environments.
  4. Policymakers should focus on ensuring tech design prioritizes youth agency—not engagement.

Resources

The Youth Voice Playbook

Teaching Digital Well-Being: Evidence Based Resources to Help Youth Thrive

Tech + Values Excercise

Teen and Young Adult Perspectives on Generative AI

What Can Philanthropy Do?

Support youth-centered efforts to create solutions toward digital thriving. For more information and grantmaking examples, see Susan Crown Exchange’s Tech and Society portfolio. Funders can contact GTY to make funder-to-funder connections.

Memorable Quotes

To have richer conversations with teens about their tech experiences, ask them:

What are the best parts of growing up with today’s technologies?
What are some of the hardest parts?
What do you most wish that I/adults understood?

—Dr. Emily Weinstein, Center for Digital Thriving

Contact the Speakers

Speakers

Dr. Emily Weinstein

Founding Co-Director, The Center for Digital Thriving, Harvard University

Dr. Emily Weinstein is a Principal Investigator at Project Zero, a lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and founding Co-Director of the new Center for Digital Thriving. Dr. Weinstein studies the intersections of contemporary technologies with the social, emotional, and civic lives of adolescents and emerging adults. Her research draws on a variety of methodological approaches, including digital post-analyses, interviews, surveys, focus groups, and experiments. She is especially passionate about translational research work and projects that center youth voice.

Weinstein’s published work includes the book Behind Their Screens: What Teens Are Facing (And Adults Are Missing) (with Carrie James, The MIT Press, 2022), as well as articles in journals like New Media & Society, Computers in Human Behavior, Journal of Adolescent Research, and International Journal of Communication. On alternating years, Dr. Weinstein teaches the course “Digital Dilemmas: Adolescents Behind Their Screens” (HGSE, T510A).

Outside of her academic research, she works regularly with schools and families to remagine supports for digital life. Emily is also a longtime collaborator of Common Sense Education, where she has worked on resource development and research behind their award-winning digital citizenship curriculum. She holds a Master’s degree (Ed.M.) in Prevention Science and Practice and a Doctorate (Ed.D.) in Human Development and Education, both from Harvard University, and a B.S. from Cornell University.

Eli Horwitch

Student, Brown University; Teen Advisor, Center for Digital Thriving

Eli Horwitch is a student pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Modern Culture and Media studies at Brown University. Hailing from Los Angeles, California, Eli has ample experience navigating the complexities of social media. Beyond the classroom, he has served as a listener on a crisis hotline and enjoys writing and performing in theatrical pursuits. Eli has worked with the Center for Digital Thriving for over three years as a teen advisor and intern.

Zoya Unni

Student, Brown University

Zoya is senior at Brown University studying Philosophy and Science, Technology & Society. She has conducted research on social media since 2019. She has a published article on TikTok content during the early days of the US COVID-19 pandemic. She participated in a teen advisory board related to a Harvard GSE study on adolescent social media usage and now guest-speaks at universities about social media trends and wellbeing. She is now especially interested in looking into navigating romantic and sexual relationships on social media as a young adult.

Presented by

Grantmakers for Thriving Youth

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