Technology has rapidly transformed the way we live, learn, and communicate, and its impact on our mental health and well-being cannot be ignored. With the rise of smartphones, social media, and online gaming, children and youth are growing up in a world that is vastly different from what their parents experienced. While technology has many benefits, concerns have been raised about its potential negative impact on child and youth mental health. As parents, educators, and mental health professionals, it is crucial that we understand the ways in which technology affects the well-being of young people and take steps to promote healthy technology use. In this article, we will explore the latest research on the impact of technology on child and youth mental health, and provide practical strategies for parents, educators, and mental health professionals to support young people in navigating the digital world.

That's right, we asked ChatGPT to write that opening paragraph, and its partner AI program DALL-E created the image above. We chose to start the snapshot this way this month as an acknowledgement of the potential that Large Language and other AI models have as educational tools in the classroom, and the fact that they are already being used (for better or worse) to power therapist chat bots and other well-being focused tools as well. Read on for more information about ChatGPT as well as other innovations that are altering the ways in which we use technology and its impact on our well-being and mental health.

Dopamine is a naturally occurring chemical produced by our brains that can reinforce pleasurable feelings. Part of its function is to help motivate us toward survival behaviours, to strive toward goals, or to focus our attention. Many everyday activities can elicit dopamine production, including eating and exercise. In similar ways, achieving goals, sensory stimulation, and social recognition all also trigger our brain to release dopamine. And it is these reward dynamics that are often at play when we interact with various forms of technology, whether video games, TikTok videos, or a Discord chat server.

Game and software developers often structure their programs to take advantage of this reward mechanism, by, for example, sending notifications when others respond to what we share online or displaying eye-catching visuals to keep us engaged. Variable reward schedules are another way developers manipulate the dopamine response - by keeping the reward unpredictable, whether through lootboxes in videogames or delaying the display of "likes" on a social media post, they ensure we repeatedly engage and re-engage with the platform as we seek out that elusive reward.  And it's not that all of these mechanisms are bad - the pleasurable, fun, connecting, and relaxing effects of videogames are part of the reason people play them, and we share things online in order to communicate with others or create community. But anyone who uses these tools should understand the very intentional way the dopamine response is manipulated through technology.

Mindfully using technology - that is, having an intention when you pick up your phone instead of habitually checking - adjusting settings to minimize the sensory stimulations built in to some apps, and balancing high dopamine activities with low dopamine activities are all ways to counteract the pull one might receive from dopamine-facilitating apps.

This article from Harvard Education explains this process in more depth, and also offers some advice about taking back control when using technology. 

The visual above is from Dr. Shimi Kang's book The Tech Solution. In this book, Dr. Kang emphasizes that managing time on devices is important, but paying attention to the type of media we are interacting with is just as important - healthy tech designed to help us create, connect, or care for ourselves is where we want to spend most of our technology time, while avoiding toxic technology that can be detrimental to our well-being. Watch the video below to hear Dr. Kang explain the different types of technology use and what happens in our brain when interacting with different types of technology.

As much as there may be concerns around misuse of technology like ChatGPT in the classroom, embracing the technology as a tool for learning is a way to get in front of those concerns. To paraphrase another article you may have seen, much like calculators, Wikipedia, or Google searches in years before, by understanding the technology ourselves, and helping our students see the applications and limitations of the technology, we can create relevant lessons that don't deny the existence of something that is going to be a huge presence in their world.

The image above is a snippet of a larger article and infographic about ways to use ChatGPT in the classroom. Beyond some of the classroom-ready ideas above, the author also encourages teachers to use ChatGPT as a starting point for lesson planning or as a source of critical thinking prompts. There will no doubt be countless applications discovered for this and similar technology in the classroom and beyond, so at the very least we owe it to ourselves and our students to understand what it is and how it works. Check out this informational article for parents, and this one for educators from Common Sense Media as starting points to learn more.

Technology has rapidly expanded options for access to support online. Here are a few options that are worth exploring:

Saanich School District recently hosted Merlyn Horton for a parent information evening on the topic of online safety for middle school parents. The talk was well received, and Merlyn has made some resources available to all families in the district, including anyone who may have missed the presentation.

Your Life Online is a tip and resource handout for grade 6-8 students. It includes information about permanent digital reputations, online drama and cyber abuse, sexting and sexual images online, and how apps work on our brain.

Parenting Strategies for Online Safety offers a number of tip and resource guides for parents on topics such as screen time, online social lives, gaming, online sexual curiosity, and general advice.

This site compiles both local and online mental health and wellness resources for families and educators, and is updated monthly with new resources.