“Adolescent Mental Health and Social Media” — After School’s SMSS Event Featured in My Digital Tat2 Newsletter

First published on the After School Blog

In January, we hosted our second annual Social Media Safety in Schools (SMSS) event here in San Francisco. Nearly 50 nonprofit organizations, mental health professionals, social media companies, online safety experts and others gathered together to discuss how to utilize social media to prevent teen suicide and improve the mental health of youth.

One of the organizations that made this event possible was My Digital Tat2 (MDT2). The nonprofit organization focuses on providing technology education. Through workshops and seminars for students, parents, educators, healthcare providers, and business professionals, MDT2 helps families stay connected through open communication and inspires them to create thoughtful and respectful communities both on and offline.

In their recent spring newsletter, the MDT2 team highlighted their takeaways from After School’s SMSS.

At the heart of both After School and MDT2 is an understanding that the collective voice of teenagers is key in assisting them in solving problems from cyberbullying to suicide. The newsletter write-up echoed this sentiment, quoting speakers from the event including Tech Ethicist David Ryan Polgar. “We need to always bring the students into the mix when we discuss teen mental health. It’s their voices that really have the most power to change cultural norms around mental health and really make a difference in the lives of teens.”

After School would like to thank MDT2 for their support and the great work they’re doing educating teens, families, and others on important topics including digital citizenship and social media safety. For more on MDT2, visit MyDigitalTat2.org.