Are Digital Platforms Missing a Crucial Opportunity to Teach Teens Emotional Skills?

Let’s face it, teens are spending the majority of their lives online — or at least a large part of their waking hours online. Between TikTok, YouTube, gaming, and other social media platforms, today’s average teen spends over eight hours a day on screens. While debates about screen time and their negative connotations rage on, the bigger question is — what are they getting out of all that time?

It turns out, not much — at least when it comes to emotional growth. And when you accept the reality of today’s youth, that’s a substantial missed opportunity.

Social-emotional learning (SEL) — which includes the likes of empathy, self-awareness, and emotional regulation — has long been associated with academic success and mental health. However, most of this still takes place within a classroom setting, with teachers already spread thin as it is. Yet, digital spaces, where teens actually spend the majority of their time, do very little to support and even acknowledge these skills.

A new report commissioned by the Ruderman Family Foundation and conducted by researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital and Education Development Center (EDC), explored this disconnect, looking at how digital platforms have the potential to instead become powerful tools for emotional development.

Interestingly, technology leaders acknowledge the importance of SEL and even see the potential for their platforms to help address these gaps in today’s society. Yet, it would appear that the vast majority of platforms are too focused on engagement and retention numbers, for emotional wellbeing to be something that truly comes into their thinking.

And it’s not just adults who see the problem either. Teenagers themselves want more from their online experiences; something that makes this all the more disappointing. Teens understand the need for tools that help them to regulate emotions, take breaks, and build real connections. Simply put, this has all the ingredients to have real-life consequences for how today’s youth grow up.

Sounds simple right? So, what might this actually look like when put into action?

Let’s imagine a gaming environment that rewards collaboration over competition, and social platforms with built-in mentorship systems or spaces designed to calm users during stressful times. Even generative AI tools which could model empathy and help teens practice healthy conversations and social skills, could make a real difference.

“Today's youth are spending the majority of their waking hours in digital spaces, yet these platforms are missing a critical opportunity to support their emotional and social development,” said Jay Ruderman, President of the Ruderman Family Foundation, stressing the opportunity that lies right in front of us — or quite literally, right in front of our kids’ eyes.

While the features mentioned above are largely theoretical, in today’s digital age of innovation, they shouldn’t be hard to imagine. We have the knowledge and technology to design digital environments that foster empathy, self-awareness, and healthy relationships.

We need to flip the script — the question is no longer whether or not teens should be online, they’re already there. The question should be, how we can harness those spaces to grow with them. To support, and not sideline, their emotional development and needs.

Parents and educators might be fighting a hopeless battle in the war to censor and suppress digital gaming systems and social media, but they should demand a better environment for their children on these platforms. This should be a message that unites rather than divides. Technology companies already see the value, it’s time they take responsibility and lead; not just in innovation, but also accountability.

Debates around screen time will surely ensue. Eight hours daily screen time for our youth will absolutely divide opinions. The reality is that it will remain a part of teens’ daily routine. So, we must try to start rethinking what this screen time looks like and how we can meet them where they currently are. If we want to raise a generation of young people who are emotionally aware, resilient, and capable of forming strong relationships, then we need to take this opportunity and reimagine screen time not just as a distraction — but as a chance to make a change for the better.