The best moment of the debate that I recently anticipated in my essay, David, Meet Goliath, was when over the top of my computer screen I saw my 14-year-old giving me two thumbs up and a huge grin.
Thank you for this post! Education is key. Equipping teens with digital literacy, cybersecurity skills, and a focus on digital well-being empowers them to navigate the online world safely and responsibly. For parents, understanding the tech landscape, setting clear boundaries, and having open communication fosters trust and a healthy digital environment at home. This is how we move beyond fear and towards responsible technology use for all.
I am so proud of you, Emily! You are working against the cultural headwinds in so many ways, but you keep going, keep talking, and spoke on this panel, despite your fears, because you truly want to help parents & kids. That is so hard to do, especially when it comes at personal cost to you (in terms of time, emotions, etc) & does *not necessarily come w economic gain to ever balance the time, energy, and expertise you pour into this work. This whole national/global trend toward black & white thinking & divisive language is harming so, so many -- and profiting a few. We all need to allow & engage in richer conversation.
I'm so grateful to you for sharing your wisdom on parenting, as well as your personal experience in participating in this panel. There is so much thoughtfulness and wise advice to living packed into this newsletter.
I appreciate the thoughtfulness of your position and approach.
One of the problems with most debate formats is how fast-paced they are - without a really good moderator that's trying to establish a deliberativeness to the process (easier with two people rather than three), they're often not a good environment to have a productive conversation. There are some orgs that try to be deliberate that way with their debates (I'd name my favourite, but then this would sound like an ad for them), but they're the exception.
This is an important topic and it deserves careful exploration. I hope such a way can be found so that whether we restrict cellphone use or not, we can feel that we made a good and deliberate choice.
When Haidt was on his podcast a while back, Tyler Cowen (way more aggressively than usual) took Haidt to taks for imprecise thinking. I appreciate your counterpoints, and hope you get more opportunities to air them.
Thanks so much -- I hope collectively there can be room for healthy, productive discussion and I'm happy to be part of that discussion whenever there is opportunity!
Bravo, Emily! I watched the debate live, and I really appreciated the balanced tone you brought to the conversation. Thank you for sharing more of your thoughts here!
Really appreciated this thoughtful post. I'd be curious what you think of more design oriented approaches to addressing issues with smart phone related harms (rather than bans). For example, many kids (and also many adults) use social media more than they want to and say it affects other parts of their lives. What if phones and apps were required to support those desires (e.g. not optimizing for time spent, notifications need to actually be time sensitive), especially for those who want more protection (which isn't just kids)?
Thank you for this post! Education is key. Equipping teens with digital literacy, cybersecurity skills, and a focus on digital well-being empowers them to navigate the online world safely and responsibly. For parents, understanding the tech landscape, setting clear boundaries, and having open communication fosters trust and a healthy digital environment at home. This is how we move beyond fear and towards responsible technology use for all.
Beautifully stated -- thank you!
Emily, you are like a superhero in my opinion. I wholeheartedly concur with your responses.
Aw thanks Kathryn :) I really appreciate your support!
I am so proud of you, Emily! You are working against the cultural headwinds in so many ways, but you keep going, keep talking, and spoke on this panel, despite your fears, because you truly want to help parents & kids. That is so hard to do, especially when it comes at personal cost to you (in terms of time, emotions, etc) & does *not necessarily come w economic gain to ever balance the time, energy, and expertise you pour into this work. This whole national/global trend toward black & white thinking & divisive language is harming so, so many -- and profiting a few. We all need to allow & engage in richer conversation.
Yeah no economic gain here ha ha. Thanks Jen! Your support truly means so much!
I'm so grateful to you for sharing your wisdom on parenting, as well as your personal experience in participating in this panel. There is so much thoughtfulness and wise advice to living packed into this newsletter.
Thank you for your help ensuring I communicate my ideas wisely and thoughtfully :)
Emily, you ROCK!!!!!
Thank you and thank you so much for the FB shoutout too!
I appreciate the thoughtfulness of your position and approach.
One of the problems with most debate formats is how fast-paced they are - without a really good moderator that's trying to establish a deliberativeness to the process (easier with two people rather than three), they're often not a good environment to have a productive conversation. There are some orgs that try to be deliberate that way with their debates (I'd name my favourite, but then this would sound like an ad for them), but they're the exception.
This is an important topic and it deserves careful exploration. I hope such a way can be found so that whether we restrict cellphone use or not, we can feel that we made a good and deliberate choice.
Agreed! Thank you for sharing these insights.
When Haidt was on his podcast a while back, Tyler Cowen (way more aggressively than usual) took Haidt to taks for imprecise thinking. I appreciate your counterpoints, and hope you get more opportunities to air them.
Thanks so much -- I hope collectively there can be room for healthy, productive discussion and I'm happy to be part of that discussion whenever there is opportunity!
Bravo, Emily! I watched the debate live, and I really appreciated the balanced tone you brought to the conversation. Thank you for sharing more of your thoughts here!
Thank you for cheering me on the whole time!
Really appreciated this thoughtful post. I'd be curious what you think of more design oriented approaches to addressing issues with smart phone related harms (rather than bans). For example, many kids (and also many adults) use social media more than they want to and say it affects other parts of their lives. What if phones and apps were required to support those desires (e.g. not optimizing for time spent, notifications need to actually be time sensitive), especially for those who want more protection (which isn't just kids)?