A Hallway That Follows You Home Picture a seventh grader named Maya. Every time her phone buzzes, her stomach drops, not because she is anxious by nature, not because she has trust issues, but because experience has taught her that a new message rarely means good news. It usually means someone has found a new … Read more

When Technology Is Used as a Weapon Imagine waking up to a text from a friend that says, “Is this you?” Attached is a video you never made. Your face is in it. The lighting looks right. The expressions look like yours. But you were never there, and you never consented to any of it. … Read more

Someone Is Always Choosing What You See Open any social media app and watch the feed roll. It feels random at first, like a buffet where you decide what to sample. But the truth is that someone, or something, is doing the choosing for you. Algorithms are invisible systems that decide what appears on your … Read more

Privacy Settings Are Tools, Not Guarantees A teenager opens her phone, taps into Instagram, and carefully selects who can see her latest post. She checks the little lock icon. She picks her close friends list. She hits share, confident that only the people she chose will see it. What she does not realize is that … Read more

The Internet Is Not Optional Anymore The internet was once a shiny new toy. You could log in, play a game of Tetris, or endure the screech of dial-up before chatting with strangers on AOL. For today’s teens and young adults, none of that sounds familiar. They did not grow up watching the internet arrive. … Read more

The Internet Is Where Life Happens Now, and Where Harm Can Happen Too The internet is not a separate place teens visit and then leave. It is woven into the daily fabric of their lives, the place where friendships develop, music gets discovered, ideas get tested, and a significant portion of their social identity gets … Read more