Read the latest news and brand new pieces on youth, social media, and emerging technologies! We focus on preventing harm and promoting positive online behaviors.

Helping Families Manage Increased Screen Time During a Global Pandemic post thumbnail

Helping Families Manage Increased Screen Time During a Global Pandemic

The spread of the global COVID-19 pandemic has created plenty of anxieties for parents trying to balance work and family responsibilities amid ever-changing uncertainties. In this unprecedented time of hunkering down and holing up, parents are relying more than ever on technology to help carry the educational and recreational load. All across the world school […]

A Teen’s View of Social Media in 2020 post thumbnail

A Teen’s View of Social Media in 2020

I recently met a high schooler named Eve, and appreciated our conversations about all things related to social media, identity, loneliness, affirmation, and purpose. I thought she would be an ideal person to share “A Teen’s Perspective on Social Media in 2020” and she happily obliged. Below are her thoughts; we both hope they give […]

Digital Dating Abuse Among Teens: Our Research, and What We Must Do post thumbnail

Digital Dating Abuse Among Teens: Our Research, and What We Must Do

February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, and we’re doing our part to help equip and empower young people to make wise decisions in their romantic relationships. Most recently, we published a new research paper entitled “Digital Dating Abuse Among a National Sample of U.S. Youth” in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence to illuminate how […]

What Should Your School’s Bullying Policy Look Like? post thumbnail

What Should Your School’s Bullying Policy Look Like?

We are regularly contacted by school administrators, board members, parents and others with questions about school bullying policies. In fact, a few months ago the principal at my son’s elementary school asked me to review their bullying policy. I am always happy to help, with the preemptive caveat that I am not a lawyer and […]

It is Time to Teach Safe Sexting post thumbnail

It is Time to Teach Safe Sexting

It’s 2020. And it’s about time we rethink our approach to teen sexting. Justin and I wrote an piece that was just published in the Journal of Adolescent Health (currently free to download!) arguing that it is time to take a more thoughtful and comprehensive approach to sexting, by supplementing abstinence messages with information to […]

How Social Media Companies Should Combat Online Abuse post thumbnail

How Social Media Companies Should Combat Online Abuse

A new year is upon us. While we’ve made some progress in reducing cyberbullying, online hate, and other forms of abuse and toxicity, I think we can do better. Social media companies are often seen (and vilified) as accomplices to the harassment and victimization that happens on their platforms, and – admittedly – are an […]

Sextortion: More Insight Into the Experiences of Youth post thumbnail

Sextortion: More Insight Into the Experiences of Youth

Earlier this year, thirty-six-year old Barton Scott hacked into dozens of Snapchat accounts to access explicit images of 14 to 16 year-old girls. According to court records, he manipulated and subsequently coerced victims into turning over their passwords, giving him access to images not intended for public dissemination. He then used those private images as […]

RESTRICTing Bullying on Instagram post thumbnail

RESTRICTing Bullying on Instagram

Last summer the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, announced that the platform would be taking more of a leadership role when it comes to tackling online bullying. With over a billion active users, they are well positioned to make an impact. In a message to users, he discussed some ways Instagram has been using technology […]