Ron talks with Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop, authors of The Disengaged Teen: Helping Kids Learn Better, Feel Better, and Live Better, about how we can harness adolescents' natural motivations for agency and connection to spark authentic engagement in education. And how we can ensure that new technologies support healthy engagement, learning, and social development instead of hijacking youth engagement for profit.

Youth Scientific Council on Adolescence members Benjamin Olaniyi, Brynn Santos, Madison Cheungsomboune, and Stephany Cartney talk with University of Oregon professor of clinical psychology Nick Allen about how AI is likely to shape education for young people, and why it can be something we embrace… instead of fear. This is the last of three episodes of "Our Youth's Perspective 2025"—an annual youth-led miniseries of the Adaptivity podcast, hosted by Ron Dahl.

Youth Scientific Council on Adolescence members Abril Rodriguez Martell, Emily Zhu, and Sebastian Gaytan D'Amico talk with UCLA Professor Leanna Hernandez to get answers to their questions about "nature v. nurture," or how genetics and environment interact to affect our development. This is the second of three episodes of "Our Youth's Perspective 2025"—an annual youth-led miniseries of the Adaptivity podcast, hosted by Ron Dahl.

Youth Scientific Council on Adolescence members Liam Garcia, Merlot Ghadoushi, and Jaleon Nocentelli talk with UCLA Psychology Professor Ted Robles about the "mind-body connection," and what the research says about how our developmental needs for caring relationships, contributing to others, belonging, and learning to navigate strong emotions can help us thrive emotionally as well as physically.

This is the first of three episodes of "Our Youth's Perspective 2025"—an annual youth-led miniseries of the Adaptivity podcast, hosted by Ron Dahl.

Ron talks with researchers Nick Allen and Jacqueline Nesi about how developmental science could help us design social media and other technology to not only decrease risks, but also amplify new opportunities created by the digital world.

Guests:

• Max, a 17-year-old student from the San Francisco Bay Area
• Nick Allen, PhD, professor of clinical psychology at the University of Oregon and the director of the Center for Digital Mental Health
• Jacqueline Nesi, assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University and author of the popular weekly newsletter TechnoSapiens

Topics:

• What Max learned from his break from social media
• Three fundamental principles for evaluating social media
• How digital tech could be designed and used to promote health and wellbeing
• The main "yellow flags" of digital tech use by adolescents
• How tech could amplify benefits for young people who are struggling or facing other disadvantages

Former Youth Scientific Council members Dallas Tanner and Becker Chabaan talk with Ron about how they navigate the benefits and risks of social media—and offer their suggestions for improving the online world for younger adolescents.

Guests:

Becker Chabaan, a freshman at UC Santa Barbara, and Dallas Tanner, a freshman at UCLA, both former members of the Youth Scientific Council on Adolescence

Topics:

• Benefits of social media for adolescents
• Disadvantages of social media, especially for younger adolescents
• Perspectives on government bans and other regulations
• How to improve social media for all young people
• Dallas and Becker's experiences with breaks from social media

Youth Scientific Council on Adolescence members Dallas Tanner, Talya Soffer, and Kobe Wood talk with Professor Leslie Leve about parenting styles, and how we're affected by our relationships with our caregivers during adolescence. This is the second of our three annual "Our Youth's Perspective" episodes—an annual youth-led series of Adaptivity, hosted by Ron Dahl.

In the first of three youth-led episodes of "Our Youth's Perspective," a special miniseries of Adaptivity, Youth Scientific Council on Adolescence members Becker Chaaban, Brandon Molina, and Namrata Poola, who talk with UCLA CDA Co-Executive Director Andrew Fuligni about how our cultural upbringing impacts development during our adolescent years.

The third and final episode of our 2024 "Our Youth's Perspective" miniseries of Adaptivity is about our relationships with our siblings. Youth Scientific Council on Adolescence members Andrea Rodriguez, Faith Veenker, and Kaelyn Morales talk with Professor Kimberly Updegraff about the important role our sisters and brothers play in our development during adolescence.

In this episode, Ron talks with psychologist and bestselling author Dr. Lisa Damour about how strong emotions during adolescence–good and bad–can be opportunities for youth to build positive coping strategies that can help them thrive as adults.