When it comes to parenting in an AI age, I see ChatGPT as a place to start, one of many sources — whether tech-based or human — that I consult for parenting advice. It’s a tool to get me started, expand my thinking, iterate and fill out sketchy ideas. Importantly, it’s a tool, not a surrogate. The best stance to bring to ChatGPT is an active one. Instead of asking: “What can you do for me?” try shifting to: “What can we think of together?”

There’s a tendency in popular discourse about social media and its impact on young people to lump all platforms together and talk about a single entity called “social media.” A certain shorthand can be useful, even necessary, to facilitate public discussion about a complex topic. Still, this shorthand glosses over the very real differences among platforms like TikTok, Instagram, BeReal, Snapchat, and Tumblr.

I discuss four tensions that I observed as experts convened in Washington, D.C. to discuss the latest research on kids and tech at the Digital Media and Developing Minds International Scientific Congress. Hosted by Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development, the Congress brought together researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and policy advocates.

Oliver and I encountered a bunch of loose parts during our trip to Chicago last week. Some were analog, others digital. Some we discovered at the conference, others we found while exploring the city. I’ve chosen two examples, one digital, one analog, to share in this post.

Too many teens struggle to experience meaning, balance, and positive interactions when using social media. To address this challenge, my research group developed Locus, a mobile application that supports teens’ intentional social media use. I’m presenting our work at this year’s Interaction Design and Children (IDC) conference in Chicago.

In Technology’s Child, I examine how parenting and parenting expectations have changed over the centuries and especially over the last several decades. As both a parent and a social scientist, I find it fascinating how these changes are reflected in the books and TV shows created for children. That’s the frame of mind I brought to my five-episode binge of the hit cartoon show, Bluey.

I use the concept of the good enough digital parent to explain why screen-free is not the goal in my family, and why it doesn’t necessarily need to be the goal in yours.

“The further integration of AI into social media is likely to be a disaster for adolescents,” warn social psychologist Jonathan Haidt and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt in a recent piece they co-wrote for The Atlantic. How, exactly? And what’s the solution?

Last week, the American Psychological Association released a health advisory on social media use in adolescence. The report lays out 10 recommendations based on current evidence in psychological science and related disciplines. This is an important and useful document for parents, educators, health practitioners, policymakers, and tech companies—really, anyone with a stake in supporting teens’ well-being. In this post, I’ve pulled out 5 key ideas from the report that particularly resonated with me and that align with the core arguments in Technology’s Child.

On Tuesday, May 2, 2023, Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) introduced the Kids Online Safety Act, a bipartisan piece of legislation that would require tech companies to adopt a “duty of care” when it comes to the well-being of their young users. Will it pass? Will it make a difference?