EMPOWERING DIGITAL WELLNESS FOR KIDS | December 2025
Dear Friend of the Lab,
Where do teens find belonging? It’s a question we hear often from families, educators, and everyone we work with, especially as concerns about young people’s digital lives continue to grow.
What we found indicates online spaces are extending and enhancing teens’ existing relationships, not replacing them. Teens with the strongest offline support also report the strongest online belonging. And conversely, those with the weakest offline connections show the weakest online belonging.
The survey also revealed that online friendships matter deeply to teens: half report having close friends they’ve never met in person, and the majority of those teens say these friendships are equally important as in-person ones. Where teens spend time online matters, too. They report the highest belonging in messaging apps and social media, the lowest in video-sharing sites.
We invite you to explore the full findings and consider what they mean for the young people in your life.
If you know someone who might benefit from these insights, please share this newsletter and encourage them to subscribe.
Toward a healthy digital future,
Cori Stott Executive Director The Digital Wellness Lab
We are thrilled to welcome two new graduate student interns whose work is driving our mission forward: Alice Huang and Yiting Yin.
Alice is pursuing an EdM from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in Learning, Design, Innovation, and Technology. She is working on the Lab’s AI in Early Childhood project, translating foundational recommendations into a practical decision-support tool for product developers. Her work supports ethical and appropriate AI design for our youngest learners.
Yiting holds an EdM from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and is training to become a School Adjustment Counselor. She is working with our Amplify Youth team to develop a next-generation digital wellness curriculum. This essential resource will empower educators, students, and parents with developmentally-informed strategies for healthy digital media use.
Please join us in giving Yiting and Alice a warm welcome!
Resources for Parents & Caregivers
Conversations with Clinicians
Kathlyn Elliott, PhD shares about her research, which explores how the risks of digital media vary by child, and how online spaces present both challenges and opportunities for building a safer, more peaceful world.
Jeremy, a high school senior and mentor for the Digital Wellness Lab’s 2025-2026 Student Advisory Council, employs a clever metaphor to explain the importance of media literacy and education when kids get new tech.
We’ve recently updated our most popular resource around the Lab’s 5 M's of Digital Wellness framework—Model, Mentor, Monitor, Mastery, and Meaning—making it easier than ever for families to find evidence-based strategies tailored to every age and stage, from birth through young adulthood.
Recientemente hemos actualizado nuestro recurso más popular en torno al marco de las 5 M del bienestar digital del Laboratorio (modelo, mentor, monitor, dominio y significado), lo que hace que sea más fácil que nunca para las familias encontrar estrategias basadas en evidencia adaptadas a cada edad y etapa, desde el nacimiento hasta la edad adulta joven.
As the year winds down, we hope you’re finding time to step away from screens, be present with the people who matter most, and recharge. All of us at the Lab will be doing the same!
We head into 2026 with energy and purpose. There’s so much more to learn about how young people can thrive in digital spaces, and we’re grateful to be doing this important work.
To our partners, collaborators, and supporters: thank you. None of this happens without you.
Wishing you a restful, joyful holiday season and a bright new year.
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All information included in this newsletter is for educational purposes only. For medical advice, diagnoses, and treatment, consult your health care provider.
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