"This document provides useful ideas and insights for anyone who is interested in what you can do, starting today, to support youth in thinking about their tech-filled lives and how they can start building digital agency. In it: a) We make the case for why we should all focus on youth digital well-b ... eing; b) We describe several resources that can spark new kinds of conversations about tech – while leveraging insights from existing research and evidence-based practices; and c) We explain why it’s important to all work together, including with youth, if we want to build resources that stand a chance of helping. At this stage, the resources we’ve created are designed particularly with classroom teachers and other school-based educators in mind. We worked with our colleagues at Common Sense to co-create full lesson plans, slides, handouts, and facilitation guidance for how various resources can be used in the context of a ~45-minute class period. You can also find implementation guidance and a recommended sequencing of the resources on page 30 of this document." (Page 3) more

"What are teens actually doing on their smartphones? Contrary to many adults’ assumptions, they are not simply “addicted” to their screens, oblivious to the afterlife of what they post, or missing out on personal connection. They are just trying to navigate a networked world. In Behind Their S ... creens, Emily Weinstein and Carrie James, Harvard researchers who are experts on teens and technology, explore the complexities that teens face in their digital lives, and suggest that many adult efforts to help—“Get off your phone!” “Just don’t sext!”—fall short. Weinstein and James warn against a single-minded focus by adults on “screen time.” Teens worry about dependence on their devices, but disconnecting means being out of the loop socially, with absence perceived as rudeness or even a failure to be there for a struggling friend. Drawing on a multiyear project that surveyed more than 3,500 teens, the authors explain that young people need empathy, not exasperated eye-rolling. Adults should understand the complicated nature of teens’ online life rather than issue commands, and they should normalize—let teens know that their challenges are shared by others—without minimizing or dismissing. Along the way, Weinstein and James describe different kinds of sexting and explain such phenomena as watermarking nudes, comparison quicksand, digital pacifiers, and collecting receipts." (Publisher description) more