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The impact of technology on the wellbeing of

kids and teens humans (and what we can do about it)

Jocelyn BrewerPsychologist, Cyberpsychology researcher

TW: @jocelynbrewer and @diginutrition

What are the current digital challenges in your school?

How are you currently addressing the issues?

1.2.3.4.

• How would you LIKE TO be addressing these issues?• How do you EVALUATE the strategies you use?

How are you engaging students in these issues (and generally)? Considering the #stuvoice

What burning questions do you have?

Unpacking the impacts of tech on mental health:

the research, data and stats

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Information literacy: not just kids’ stuff Would you like moral panic with that?

Key concepts of good science: quick refresher

• Correlation ≠ causation: consider wider context and factors • The plural of anecdote ≠ data: beware of confirmation bias• No cherry-picking results: view the whole tree and orchard

Additional ways to spot good reporting

• The article refers to the original (peer-reviewed) journal article• The research is pre-registered (intro, hypotheses, methods are

published prior to data collection)• Conflicts of interest are declared• Commentary is by an actual subject matter expert • Sensational, emotional, provocative language is avoided• Wild extrapolation and speculation is avoided

Is the sky falling?

Notice how you make judgements

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Context & content are vital considerations Are we listening to young people?

But is technology ‘addictive’? Implications of ‘Gaming Disorder’ in ICD11

Healthy, safe and savvy: models for digital skills

What is Digital Citizenship?

• A digital citizen is a person with the skills and knowledge to effectively use digital technologies to participate in society, communicate with others and create and consume digital content.• Three core principles that responsible digital citizens should

practice are• ENGAGE positively• KNOW your online world• CHOOSE consciously

source: www.esafety.gov.au

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#DigCit is wholistic Digital Intelligence = #DQ

Source: www.dqinstitute.org

Where does this fit in the Aust Curriculum?• The Personal and Social Capability• The ICT Capability

But is this just an issue for students?

What is Digital Nutrition?Digital Nutrition is….

• a positive framework for considering how to create a healthy and sustainable relationship to our digital devices and online world. • It explores & interprets research across:• Digital-social trends and cultures• Wellbeing and positive psychology• Neuro-science and human development• Parenting and communication

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Put most simply it’s about promoting healthy tech habits

And avoiding these kinds of stereotypes

Less simply, it’s about•Using the analogy with food to help steer us away from an obsession with screentime and counting digital calories.•Designing savvy digital habits that keep us at the controls of our tech use.•Understanding the mechanisms used by developers to keep us scrolling & swiping and what ethical tech design looks & feels like.

So, how do we do that?

•We educate parents (and kids) on the impacts (pos & neg) of technology.•We raise the conversation beyond moral panic, to

nuanced informed discussion.•We role model critical thought, appraisal, making

mistakes (!!) and questioning.•We teach emotional regulation and soft skill

(emotional intelligence) capabilities.

If we ‘are what we eat’ then

•How might we consider more effectively the cognitive, social, emotional impacts of technology?•How do we develop healthy technology habitsthat negate the need for digital detoxes?•How do we feed our mind the ‘best’ information and ideas?• Imagine if apps and games came with nutritional labels.

Thinking beyond ‘screen time’

Consider that some activities are superfoods, others are empty calories.

‘How much screentime?’ is the wrong question!

•Screentime alone is a very simplistic metric ààstop ‘digital calorie’ counting•Consider what constitutes a ‘healthy digital diet’?• the ‘what you eat’ or digitally consume • the relationship with the device/app/game/social media site.• The source or production of the device/activity (who made it and why?)

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Consider these instead

• Content à What is being consumed online (developmentally appropriate?)• Context à the situation the tech use is occurring in (bedroom,

classroom?)• Cognitionsà what thoughts, motivations, intentions accompany

the activities (adaptive, maladaptive?)• Connections à who you’re communicating with (safety,

known/strangers, age)• Function à the reason for the tech use (to avoid social interaction,

to study?)Sorting the digital candy

from the digital kale:

Virtual VitaminsConsider the need to evaluate the ingredients

of online activities to credential them better.

Two parts to technology use1. The actual Device(s) and tech skills 2. The social and emotional skills that go with

using the device responsibly and in a healthy manner.

We’re missing this bit!

Practical strategiesfor digital citizenship

and wellbeing

So what does all that mean in practice?

Remember the marshmallow test?

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Ditch the notion of ‘balance’!?

Looks pretty tricky and unsustainable

Embed #digcit in a meaningful way

Encourage deeper digital engagement

CONSUMPTION

CREATION

Champion social-emotional learning

Champion social-emotional learning #SEL

• Embedded in the curriculum as the social-personal capability (aka Emotional Intelligence – EQ), increasingly recognised as important in parenting.• Emotion coaching helps regulate feelings and responses, improves

ability to cope using adaptive strategies.• The goal is not ‘happiness’ but being skillful in managing the proverbial

bumps in the road (building resilience, distress tolerance and problem solving).• Understanding the nature of adolescence, identity formation and need to

learn through experiences (not theory). • Willingness to ‘be there’ and hold the space as they learn (and sometimes

fail)

Demand more from developers & big tech

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Check your own digital habits

Think beyond ‘screentime’

Get creative with technology limits

You don’t need to ‘ban’ anything! There are lots of solutions…

Changing behaviour with ‘nudges’

Use trusted resources• Office of the e-safety commissioner• Common Sense Media• International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) – Digital

Citizenship PLN (professional learning network)• LSE’s Media Policy Project Blog – Prof Sonia Livingstone

Apply the 3M’s Digital Nutrition

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What are your take-away messages? How might you now use tech differently?

TMI? Press escape, relax and unplug! Find out more, keep learning: • Subscribe to the monthly newsletter• Book a seminar for parents• Engage your students in a ‘playshop’• Provide staff professional development• Watch my TEDx talk• Follow me on social media (esp twitter!)• Read articles and blogs• get tech/life balance hacks• read new research in simple language