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News: Technology

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Do Cellphone Bans in Middle School Work? It’s Complicated.

September 26, 2024

National Scientific Council on Adolescence member Jacqueline Nesi, PhD, was quoted in the recent article published by the Bay Area’s NPR and PBS member station, KQED. Nesi explains that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to smartphones for early adolescence, but research suggests that kids need “increasing independence as they age [and] there’s value in giving them opportunities to solve problems.”

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When Should Kids Get a Smartphone?

August 13, 2024

NSCA member Jacqueline Nesi attempts to answer the question, ‘When Should Kids Get a Smartphone?’ in her new op-ed published in Scientific American. Although research shows there is no “right” age to give a child a smartphone because the “research consistently demonstrates that the ways in which children respond to technologies are highly individualized,” Dr. Nesi provides some interesting facts and suggestions about how to give young people technology in a way that supports healthy development.

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Techdirt Podcast: What An Actual Expert Thinks About Kids & Social Media

June 18, 2024

NSCA member and Professor of Psychological Science and Informatics at UC Irvine Candice Odgers talks with podcast host Michael Masnick about the research into youth mental health and social media use—and how blaming tech could cause us to miss the real challenges young people face.

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What Research Actually Says about Social Media and Kids’ Health

June 18, 2024

Even as the surgeon general recommends warning labels for parents and kids about social media, there is still debate about whether or to what extent technology may be negative for youth. NSCA member Candice Odgers is cited in this overview of what research tells us about social media and youth mental health.

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The Panic Over Smartphones Doesn’t Help Teens

May 21, 2024

“Focusing solely on social media may mean that the real causes of mental disorder and distress among our children go unaddressed,” writes NSCA member Candice Odgers in this article explaining the research on youth and digital technology for The Atlantic.

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The Great Rewiring: Is Social Media Really Behind an Epidemic of Teenage Mental Illness?

March 29, 2024

​In a book review for Nature, NSCA member Candice Odgers explains what research actually says about social media and youth mental health—and how current narratives may be causing us to miss the real challenges facing young people today.

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Here’s Why Your Teen Overshares Online, and Why That Could Be Good

September 18, 2023

National Scientific Council on Adolescence member Jacqueline Nesi talks about how sharing online can be a way for young people to find social support.

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What the Surgeon General’s Advisory Says About Social Media for Kids

May 25, 2023

Prof. Jacqueline Nesi, part of the leadership of the Brown-Lifespan Center for Digital Health and member of the NSCA, talked with Washington Post reporter Teddy Amenabar about putting the Surgeon General's social media advisory into context.

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Opinion: Let’s Help Our Middle Schoolers Learn from Their Digital Worlds

January 17, 2023

Prof. Candice Odgers and Prof. Jacqueline Nesi, two of the authors of the recent National Scientific Council on Adolescence report on youth and digital technology, write about how the online world could support healthy development for early adolescents.

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Facebook’s Own Data Is Not as Conclusive as You Think About Teens and Mental Health

October 6, 2021

NPR spoke with Candice Odgers, PhD, psychologist at UC Irvine and Duke University and member of our National Scientific Council on Adolescence, about why Facebook's marketing data on youth and social media—the subject of testimony to a Senate panel—doesn't match the research.

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