Our Story

A Brief History of the Digital Wellbeing Workshop

Involving Youth in Facilitating Positive Social Media Use

“It is so important for adolescents to understand the design and creation process of the apps they use. This knowledge can give them insight into what enabled unhealthy social media usage habits and empower them to find better solutions,” -Dr. Delcourt,

Catherine Delcourt, professor in the Computer Science Department at Wellesley College, and Linda Chairman, Ph.D., and co-leader of the workshop, senior research scientist at WCW, and director of the Youth, Media & Wellbeing Research Lab, met through a collaboration on research, focusing on the intersection of computer science and education psychology.

The transition from elementary to middle school is a key transitional period in identity and social development. Our last co-ed workshop was in 2019. The decision for this change was to encourage young girls to be more outspoken on their opinions, considering young girls have a unique experience on social media. It is a critical time to highlight agency, to connect or disconnect on social media and to identify or not identify as someone who can make a positive change in their online worlds.

Hence why the Youth, Media & Wellbeing Research Lab at the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) and the Wellesley College Computer Science Department host a free virtual workshop for middle school girls on designing healthier social media experiences. The five-day program allowed students to co-design an app to promote positive social media use and featured Wellesley College students and expert speakers on STEM.

“Over the course of the week, students learned to examine the role of technology in their lives and became digital innovators...It was exciting to hear their ideas and see how they would develop prototypes for more positive and authentic connections on social media.” -Dr. Charmaraman,