Social Media and Mental Health | Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds

Media Literacy and Mental Health, featuring Common Sense Media – Shrinking It Down

Media literacy - Social Media Mental Health - Two grade school-age siblings using a digital tablet on the couch

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Posted in: Multimedia, Podcast

Topics: Culture + Society, Digital Media

Today’s young people are spending more time online than previous generations, and many parents and caregivers worry about how social media is affecting their mental health, and emotional and social well-being. Strengthening social media literacy skills can help us all better use media as engaged and informed consumers. But what does “media literacy” mean, and how can we help kids and teens build these skills?

On today’s episode of Shrinking It Down, Dr. Michael Robb, Senior Director of Research at Common Sense Media, joins Gene and Khadijah to talk about how parents can help kids better understand the social media and other digital media they use, how it affects their mental health and wellness, and make healthier choices about it. Plus, why the quality of screen content matters more than the amount of screen time. Tune in for more!

Thank you for joining in this conversation. If you have a question about helping kids build media literacy skills, we’d love to hear from you. Write to us!

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Tune in wherever you get your podcasts – just search for ‘Shrinking It Down.’

Episode produced by Joshua Eng

Music by Gene Beresin

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Khadijah Booth Watkins

Khadijah Booth Watkins, Associate Director

Khadijah Booth Watkins, MD, MPH, is associate director of the Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and the Associate Director of the Child and...

To learn more about Khadijah, or to contact her directly, please see Our Team.

Gene Beresin

Gene Beresin, Executive Director

Gene Beresin, MD, MA is executive director of The MGH Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds, and a staff child and adolescent psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is also...

To learn more about Gene, or to contact him directly, please see Our Team.