Promoting Positive Youth Development with Dr. Linda Charmaraman

Charmaraman pic for postFrom June 28th to June 29th, the 2016 SMAHRT Conference: SocialMedia@Work will be held at Seattle Children’s Research Institute’s downtown offices.  This year, we have a very exciting list of presenters that will speak about their work with social media. Among them is Linda Charmaraman, a research scientist at the Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College and former New Connections grantee for Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Charmaraman chose to work with adolescents because they are both an overlooked population in science and a population that can be heavily influenced—usually by their peers. While many researchers do not want to work with adolescents because, as Charmaraman states, “the period of adolescence is too complex or too late to make a difference,” Charmaraman sees only possibilities.  “Adolescents have so much potential because of how their views change,” she said, “so there is room for intervention where and when it is critically needed.”

In Charmaraman’s recent national survey and interview project on media and identity, she found that social media can sometimes be a positive tool for adolescents from how they use it to reach out to others, an idea that runs counter to much of what is said about social networking sites by concerned parents and the media. “Social media actually helps adolescents explore different parts of themselves, such as their racial/ethnic identity or sexual orientation,” Charmaraman said. Charmaraman found when adolescents go online and post statuses, they are often looking for ways to connect with others both online and offline, a finding that goes against the popular notion that social media is making adolescents less social.

Research on how adolescents interact with social media can be extremely beneficial to the community. Charmaraman said research can teach parents and schools to use adolescents’ knowledge of social media in productive ways to help them make healthy choices.

Social media does not have to be an activity or topic that parents, schools, and other institutions fear. With some guidance, it can contribute to positive youth development. Charmaraman and other researchers will share their insights at the 2016 SMAHRT conference with the goal of informing the community about social media and ways organizations can use it to connect, engage, educate and promote positive youth development.

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