Quote · TED Talks Daily
What we're getting wrong about teens and tech | Candice Odgers | Your Body on Tech
Where this was said
Practical Parenting Advice: The Promise That Keeps Teens Talking
At 54:55 · chapter starts 54:40
Manoush tests her internalization of Odgers' framework by recounting a breakfast conversation: a friend's 12-year-old wanted Snapchat because three of his five close friends were on it. Manoush walked through the Odgers checklist — is it for genuine social connection? has the family had a general internet safety conversation? is the child otherwise doing well? — and landed on: pick your battles. Odgers approves, then adds the insight she says she had to learn from the young people in her own study: when handing over a device or opening a new platform, make an explicit promise that if anything bad or scary happens, you will never punish your child by taking the technology away [1] — Candice Odgers "The single most powerful thing a parent can do when giving a child a phone: promise that if something bad happens online and they tell you,…" 54:40 . Teens routinely hide online harm from parents precisely because they fear losing access — a dynamic that silences disclosure, escalates risks, and could, in extreme cases, cost a life. Odgers admits she had to change her own parenting strategy after 13-year-olds in her study told her this.
The single most powerful thing a parent can do when giving a child a phone: promise that if something bad happens online and they tell you, you will never take the device away as punishment. Teens don't tell adults about online harm because they fear losing access.
