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Q&A: Mentors Can Support Teens' Digital Wellness

Doctoral student Westley Fallavollita shares some insights on ways mentors can play a positive role for teens and their digital wellness.

Audrey Breen

Teenagers are back at school following the winter break, very likely with a phone in hand—or backpack. As debates renew over phone use in schools, a larger conversation continues about teens, social media use and mental wellbeing. 

Some complexities around the topic come as the result of appropriate adolescent development, including teens’ increasing autonomy, their expanding networks of relationships and efforts to define their own identity. 

According to Westley Fallavollita, a doctoral student at the University of Virginia School of Education and Human Development, that expanding network of relationships can be one place teens find support for positive social media use. In a brief he co-authored, Fallavollita specifically focuses on mentoring relationships and offers tips for how mentors can play a positive role for teens and their digital wellness.

We connected with Fallavollita to learn more about how mentors and mentoring programs can support youth.

Q.  Can you describe what you mean by digital wellness for teens?

Westley Fallavollita headshot
Westley Fallavollita believes mentors can support teens' digital wellness. Contributed photo.

A: Digital wellness is about having a healthy and balanced relationship with technology, where balance is more than just limiting screen time. It involves both time spent online and the nature of online activities. Digital wellness emphasizes skills that help teens become intentional and proactive when they use technology, rather than being passively drawn into social media algorithms. Digital wellness helps teens practice  self-determination, empowering them to be active participants, and to detach from social media to prioritize offline interactions when needed.

Like mindful eating in nutrition, digital wellness involves a non-judgmental and curious approach to social media habits. Teens can reflect on their social media use, evaluate their emotional responses, and work to adjust their behavior to align with their values. Teens can learn to recognize when engagement is becoming problematic, and how to adjust their habits accordingly. Ultimately, digital wellness helps shift teens from reactive, passive use, which has a greater association with negative outcomes, to proactive, intentional use, which can be more integrated with their goals.

Q: One tip you suggest is for mentors to help teens with their digital literacy skills. What are some of those skills?

A: Digital literacy skills depend on the developmental level, personal characteristics, and unique circumstances of each teen. Some teens may need fundamental skills related to privacy and safety, such as understanding who can see the pictures they share or how to manage their privacy settings. Others skills include strategies to navigate online conflicts, such as cyberbullying and cybervictimization, or how to respond to negative interactions or misinformation. An increasingly important digital literacy skill is identifying positive role models, especially for teen boys drawn to polarizing online influencers. 

Digital literacy also involves higher-order executive functioning and metacognitive skills. These skills include setting personal boundaries for screen time and sticking to them, such as turning off screens an hour before bed or using productivity tools to limit social media use. An important part of this self-regulation is understanding the persuasive design of social media platforms. Recognizing that these platforms are intentionally designed to capture attention and maximize engagement helps teens make informed decisions and develop insight into their own behavior.

Q: You suggest mentors nurture and encourage the positive elements of social media use. What are some of those elements?

A: Social media provides opportunities for positive development, including personal growth, relationships with others, and engagement with communities. 

On an individual level, social media platforms create opportunities for self-expression and identity exploration. In terms of relationships with others, social media helps teens maintain friendships and seek emotional support from peers. This is especially for marginalized groups who may find acceptance and community in digital spaces. On a broader scale, social media enables teens to organize and participate in civic discussion and for social causes. 

Beyond the potential for positive development, social media also provides teens an outlet for enjoyment, escapism, and relaxation. Social media offers teens a way to unwind and engage with content purely for pleasure. This kind of passive engagement, when balanced with more intentional use, can also contribute to emotional well-being. 
 

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Audrey Breen