For The brains of adolescents are built for a connectionPulling the phone can be especially difficult to resist. “Even things that look neutral or benign can play these vulnerabilities of adolescents,” James said. “Adolescents are interested in what their friends think, they take a lot of take care of the state of their friendship, their place in the world and how people look at them.”
However, adults also feel the attraction of convincing design features such as notifications, endless scrolling and stripes. Recognizing this can increase empathy and build a common position that can transfer adults from thinking “us against them” to the approach “us and them” when it comes to technology.
To help students notice how technology can influence their thought patterns, the center created a dictionary of Seven thinking trapswithdrawn Cognitive -behavioral therapyS These include “reading the mind”, “customization” and “everything or nothing thinking”. The very learning of these traps can make them easier to manage. “Our hope is that it is opening a more conversation about some of the psychological vulnerabilities we all have,” James said. “We can admit that part of what we read may not be real.” Young people are also encouraged to prove themselves wrong when they admit that they fall into these patterns of thinking, seeing what evidence they have and ask what advice would give a friend who experiences the same thinking trap.
Start with values rather than apps
When the children look stressed or glued to their screensMany parents start asking, “What about Instagram?” Or “Why does a tictoc pull you?” James recommended a different approach that focuses on the needs of the children, not the technology itself. A useful tool is Value Sorting of ActivityWho asks students to choose personal values such as honesty, creativity or justice and to think how technology helps or impede these values. “And in some cases, of the same value, it can be small of both,” James explained.
This kind of reflection Makes room for a student agencyS Instead of telling them what matters, young people get to name what is important to them. And this often motivates more thoughtful conversations. James also emphasizes a study in which researchers viewed design tricks such as notifications and pop -up ads using values as a frame. “They have drawn the connection between these design characteristics and values such as autonomy and justice and justice, for which adolescents tend to care for,” James said. She noted that emphasizing values such as autonomy and justice is usually an effective motivator for students because they do not want to be told what to do, whether it is from their parents or their devices.
Technological habits rather than shameful technology
Many students already feel conflict about their relationship with screens. In interviews, they told James things like, “I don’t want to look back at my childhood and I think I wasted it for a meaningless game” or “My friends are always glued to their phones and I am. I hate that.”
To help children feel less alone and more authorized, the center created Technical habits challengeS Students pair and interview each other Use of a manual worksheetStarting with questions like, “What is a technological habit that you feel good?” By leading a positive question, it has signaled to students that we see the good things they already do to take care of their digital well -being, James said.
Then they reflect on a habit they want to change, which may involve checking a particular application less or use it differently. Students create a five -day plan, alternatives to brain storm and identify someone who holds them responsible. Most importantly, students choose the goal themselves. A student, for example, wanted to continue using Snapchat, but to give up checking the location of his boyfriend. Its purpose was not to give up, but to use the application in a way that is better brought with its values.
