Recap: Teen Mental Health & Social Media Workshop Featuring Dr. Walsh

On Monday, October 23, the Leaders for an Equitable Tomorrow (LET) program organized a Social Media & Teen Mental Health Workshop that welcomed teens, youth, parents, educators, and community members. Hosted at the James L. McKeown Boys & Girls Club in Woburn, this was the first LET event of the school year! Starting off strong with record attendance for LET, the workshop featured guest speaker, Dr. Jill Walsh, a leading expert on youth mental health and social media, researcher and lecturer at Boston University, and founder of Digital Aged. The beginning of the event was led by Dr. Jill Walsh who shared her research and findings on the intricate relationship between social media and teenage mental health. After, the adults and teens split into discussion groups, where a safe space was fostered to encourage guest engagement.

According to Dr. Walsh, social media is a platform where misinformation is easily spread, algorithms can lead to dangerous rabbit holes, mood and sleep are affected, negative comparison is generated, and more. For issues that specifically affect teens, Dr. Walsh explained that there are certain behaviors parents should look out for and discuss with their children such as excessive rumination, a consistent lack of interest in their usual activities, and children serving as counselors to their friends. Nevertheless, her presentation also explored the pros of social media serving as an accessible space to find community, affirm one’s self, and explore interests. Thus, Dr. Walsh encouraged the audience to bridge the gap on how teens and adults perceive social media.

Highlighting Dr. Walsh’s point of identifying the benefits of social media to avoid the cons, one student emphasized that “while lots of social media platforms have aspects that aren’t the best for anyone’s mental health, a large amount of them are used for connection.” An adult participant remarked that they left feeling like they knew how to “look out for signs that social media could be exacerbating mental health issues” and realized “that there is, in fact, a lot of good that can come from social media.” All attendees received various takeaways that enhanced their comprehension of social media and its impact on teen mental health. For those who would like to learn more about social media and technology’s impact on mental health, Dr. Jill Walsh recommends reading Dopamine Nation by Dr. Anna Lembke, which is available at the Woburn Public Library.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the workshop, and we hope to see you again at future LET events! Congratulations to the SCI LET high school interns, Jacoby Altman, Luke Sheldon, and Valery Verdier, on a successful first event due to their passion for the topic and diligence in conducting outreach. Thank you to the James L. McKeown Boys & Girls Club of Woburn for hosting a space for the workshop, Studio Café for matching a donation on Studio Café gift cards, and the Winchester Coalition for a Safer Community for supporting the LET program. Finally, a big thank you to the Winchester Hospital Community Benefits for funding LET and making this event possible!

The LET program is a joint initiative of Social Capital Inc. and Network for Social Justice (NFSJ) that seeks to advance mental health awareness and engagement among youth within, and beyond, Winchester and Woburn through a focus on the intersection of mental health, race, and identity.