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What YouTube, WhatsApp, New Year’s resolutions, & screen time can teach students about intentionally navigating tech

Updates to YouTube and WhatsApp aim to give families more control to support students as they navigate technology

The Gist: YouTube is introducing new updates aimed at better supporting teens and families by offering age-appropriate experiences, clearer safeguards, and tools that help guide how content is consumed. At the same time, other platforms, like WhatsApp, are exploring ways to involve families more directly through features that support privacy and communication boundaries. Together, these updates highlight a growing conversation about how teens, families, and platforms can share responsibility in building healthier tech habits.

What to Know: YouTube shared that when parents and experts talk about what they want from teen accounts, they tend to focus on three main ideas: helping teens learn to consume content responsibly, ensuring content is age-appropriate, and creating a simpler experience with built-in protections that adjust as teens grow. The goal is to give families more flexibility to choose what works best for them, while still offering safeguards that support younger users. These updates are designed to guide, not control, teen experiences, allowing exploration, creativity, and learning while adding guardrails that reflect different stages of development.

At the same time, WhatsApp is developing secondary accounts that allow parents to manage a linked account for younger users without viewing message content. These accounts limit messaging and calling to approved contacts by default, allow parents to review privacy settings, and share activity updates to help families stay informed. Some families see this as a helpful way to set expectations early and build trust, while others wonder how these features will evolve as teens seek more independence. Still, both updates point to a broader trend: platforms are increasingly recognizing the role families play in supporting healthy, responsible tech use.

TSI’s Take: While platform tools and family controls can be helpful, they work best when paired with skills that help students make intentional choices online. Whether it’s choosing what to watch on YouTube or understanding privacy settings on WhatsApp, students benefit from learning how their actions reflect their values, interests, and character. That’s where TSI’s Standards, Play To Your Core and Protect Your Privacy Like You’re Famous come into play, empowering students to share authentically, protect their personal information, and make decisions that feel right to them, not just popular. When families and schools work together and huddle with students about these habits early, students are better prepared to navigate technology with confidence as tools and expectations continue to change.

How Educators and Families Can Support Students:

• Teach intentional discovery: Help students learn how to find new videos and websites thoughtfully, instead of scrolling on autopilot or letting algorithms decide everything.
• Encourage values-based reflection: Ask students to consider whether the content they engage with reflects who they are and what they care about, or if it simply feeds pressure, comparison, or the need for approval.
• Empower privacy awareness: Support students in understanding and adjusting privacy settings across platforms so they can protect their personal information and feel confident about what they share online.
• Normalize tech huddles: Encourage regular family conversations about technology that feel collaborative, not punitive, creating space for trust, shared expectations, and open dialogue.

Want to help students build these skills? Explore our #WinAtSocial Lesson, Discovering New Videos and Websites: What Do You Do, that empowers students to use technology in ways that support who they are, both online and offline. 

How online diet and fitness trends are impacting students

The Gist: As the new year begins, many teens find themselves surrounded by messages about dieting, weight loss, and “starting over,” especially on social media. For some, these messages may be motivating to set goals and build healthier habits. But for others, they may create unrealistic expectations and pressure, particularly for teens who are still developing their identities. This makes the start of the year a critical moment to help students recognize how online influence and social pressure can shape how they feel about themselves.

What to Know: Every January, teens are flooded with content tied to resolutions, including posts from friends declaring “new year, new me” and a surge of ads promoting dieting and fitness programs. While these messages are often framed as positive or motivational, they can feel overwhelming for teens who are already navigating body image concerns. Experts note that constant exposure to food and weight-focused content can increase stress, comparison, and self-doubt during a time when many teens are still figuring out who they are and how they want to show up in the world.

At the same time, not all health-related content is harmful. Some teens find encouragement and accountability through creators who promote balanced habits, confidence, and overall well-being, because this helps them envision a healthier lifestyle they want for themselves. The challenge is that social media doesn’t always distinguish between helpful influence and unhealthy pressure. Algorithms tend to amplify content that gets attention, not content that supports mental or emotional health, making it harder for students to filter what’s genuinely helpful from what adds pressure.

TSI’s Take: While goal-setting and self-improvement can be positive, students need skills to navigate influence and pressure online in ways that protect their well-being. That starts with helping students recognize who and what is influencing them, and whether that influence supports healthy habits or fuels stress and comparison. Schools and families can equip students with healthy tech habits, such as:

• Finding positive influencers: Encourage students to surround themselves with positive, credible role models who promote healthy habits, not just a perfect image.
• Curating their feeds: Normalize unfollowing or blocking accounts that trigger self-doubt, promote unhealthy standards, or send inappropriate messages.
• Building resilience under pressure: Support students in developing habits that help them stay grounded and confident, even when trends and expectations feel overwhelming.

Want to help students navigate social media, gaming, and body image with confidence? Explore the #WinAtSocial Lesson, Exploring the Link Between Social Media, Gaming, and Body Image, and empower students to build healthy habits that last beyond January.

Too Much or Too Little Screen Time? Research shows that a balance is best

The Gist: Social media isn’t all good or all bad. Recent research shows that both too much and too little social media use can affect teen well-being. Supporters of frequent social media use highlight its role in helping teens stay connected, build friendships, and feel included in peer communities. On the other hand, too much screen time can lead to stress, distraction, and anxiety, while complete abstinence can leave teens feeling socially disconnected. This study reinforces that finding a balance is key, giving students the chance to stay engaged online without losing sight of life offline.

What to Know: Researchers from the University of South Australia recently reported in JAMA Pediatrics that the relationship between social media use and teen well-being is “complex and nonlinear.” In other words, both extremes, very high or very low usage, can have downsides. Teens who spend too much time online may experience stress, sleep problems, or distraction from schoolwork and real-world relationships. Meanwhile, teens who avoid social media completely may miss out on important social interactions, updates from friends, and the sense of belonging that comes from being part of peer networks.

The study underscores that it’s not about avoiding social media entirely or using it without limits. Instead, the healthiest approach allows teens to engage online while also valuing real-life moments, keeping up with school and family responsibilities, and maintaining face-to-face connections. Managing digital distractions and prioritizing in-person relationships are just as important as knowing how to navigate platforms thoughtfully.

TSI’s Take: Social media can be a helpful tool for staying connected, but students do best when they balance online engagement with real-world experiences. Schools and families can support students by encouraging them to:

• Prioritize responsibilities first: Make sure homework, chores, and other important tasks are completed before spending time online.
• Manage digital distractions: Look people in the eye during conversations and avoid checking devices constantly.
• Value real-life moments: Enjoy experiences without needing immediate recognition or validation from online followers.
• Set intentional limits: Encourage students to reflect on how social media fits into their daily lives and adjust usage to maintain balance.

Looking for a way to provide your students with more balance? This article pairs perfectly with the #WinAtSocial Lesson, Tech Balance with Those Around Us, giving students practical strategies to stay connected online while protecting time and attention for real-life relationships.

When families and schools focus on balance, intentional choices, and open conversations instead of strict control, students are better equipped to build healthy, confident tech habits. With the right skills and support, students can learn to use technology in ways that reflect who they are, not just what’s trending. Explore The Social Institute’s positive approach to intentional tech habits to start equipping your K-12 students today.

The Social Institute (TSI) is the leader in equipping students, families, and educators with modern life skills to impact learning, well-being, and students’ futures. Through #WinAtSocial, our interactive, peer-to-peer learning platform, we integrate teacher PD, family resources, student voice insights, and more to empower entire school communities to make positive choices online and offline. #WinAtSocial Lessons teach essential skills while capturing student voice and actionable insights for educators. These insights help educators maintain a healthy school culture, foster high-impact teaching, and build meaningful relationships with families. Our unique, student-respected approach empowers and equips students authentically, enabling our solution to increase classroom participation and improve student-teacher relationships. Through our one-of-a-kind lesson development process, we create lessons for a variety of core and elective classes, incorporating timely topics such as social media, A.I., screen time, misinformation, and current events to help schools stay proactive in supporting student health, happiness, and academic success.