Category Archives: Commentary

Dear Friends, Happy October! The best month, in my opinion—although are we tired of pumpkin spice yet? First things first: we were thrilled to see so many applications to our Well-Being by Design Fellowship. Thanks to all who have applied. We’ll be announcing our next cohort in December! Now, some recent highlights: We’re six months into the debate over Jonathan Haidt’s book The Anxious Generation. Agree or disagree with the book’s choice of data, conclusions, and recommendations, its publication kicked…

Ever since I joined the Joan Ganz Cooney Center’s Well-being by Design Fellowship, I have found myself subconsciously auditing my entire virtual world for its well-being design considerations. Does the team budget spreadsheet system promote feelings of competence for my colleagues? How does my wedding website support guests’ sense of identity? Did this airline-app-that-shall-not-be-named consider users’ feelings of autonomy in times of a global airline outage at all? I was delighted to attend the Play Make Learn annual conference at UW…

In February 2019, a story titled “California newborn becomes first baby to be named an emoji” circulated widely on social media. The story claimed a mother had named her baby the emoji equivalent of “heart-eyes heart-eyes heart-eyes.” It was fake and could be recognized as such by either its content or its source: prettycoolsite.com. Still, this story was shared on social media thousands of times, and some of those who shared it were likely children. Most US elementary-school-aged children have…

Imagine an education system designed from the ground up around fundamental human needs, from strong social bonds to cultural flourishing on a healthy planet. We are an inventive species, now with fantastically powerful tools, but limited wisdom to use them toward good. Solving this mismatch may be the key to our collective well-being. In this essay, I sketch an educational approach for building wisdom, with a special focus on learning through social interactions with other people, and one-way parasocial interactions…

With so much going on in the kids’ tech policy world, including a mention during the State of the Union address, we are back with thoughts on recent developments. We also have several events to share, so please read on. The legislative and regulatory landscape addressing children’s experiences in digital environments can feel vast, with the FTC, Congress, and state legislatures across the country wrestling with a variety of ways to approach these challenging issues. The academic community continues to…

In today’s rapidly evolving world of youth and digital media, it is crucial to stay up-to-date with the latest changes and discover innovative ways to cater to the needs of children, tweens, and teens. At BeMe Health, we are using media to connect and support Gen Z and Gen Alpha wellness, drawing inspiration from the Cooney Center’s recent research on tweens and teens to create the BeMe app, a mobile mental health platform designed to improve teen well-being by bringing…

As the United States enters a national election cycle, concerned experts and educators are calling for a renewed emphasis on civic education. We’re witnessing intense political polarization; it seems more urgent now than ever before to find civic values that unite our fellow citizens.  For older generations, educational media such as the iconic Schoolhouse Rock!, which is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary, or Nick News’ Kids Pick the President series were important resources for learning about civics and democratic values.…

How can we design the digital world in the best interests of children? What principles should guide innovators of digital products and services that may impact children’s lives? In the Digital Futures Commission, we asked ourselves, how can we translate the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into a tool that’s practical for designers and developers? Digital technologies are part of the infrastructure of children’s daily lives. They are no longer optional for children but, indeed, crucial to…

What happens when you are trying to design a new technology for kids and things do not go as expected?  In the case of the University of Maryland KidsTeam, you might help create Nickelodeon’s Do Not Touch button—an interactive button that plays with kids’ desire to do exactly what they’ve been told not to do. This is an example of the Cooperative Inquiry method of technology co-design in action, where children engage in the design process in equal partnership with…

Dubit CEO Matthew Warneford estimates that within a decade, a million people will make their living from the metaverse. Another 100 million will build in immersive spaces for their own fulfillment. Can building in virtual worlds help make a better real world? The iCan Generation A full-fledged metaverse is a long way off, but Generation Z and the first wave of Gen Alpha are deeply engaged in using its emerging individual elements for play, work, learning, socializing and communicating. They’re…