Question: My local community would like to start a class/learning session for preteens and young teenagers on social media, internet safety, and mental health. Do you all have any particular resources or suggested formatting for teaching basic classes? Our youth leaders have asked to lead these classes as well, so any recommendations would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

Answer: Thank you for this question and for your interest in holding classes for adolescents about social media use. This sounds like a wonderful resource to provide in your community! There are a wealth of free, evidence-based resources and curriculums available. We’ve described several below.

Peer-to-Peer Education

While there isn’t research specifically on peer-to-peer education related to social media use, previous research on peer-led mental health and wellbeing interventions in school settings found significant positive effects for the peers leading the training such as improved self-esteem and decreased social stress. Results were mixed for those receiving the trainings, suggesting that how the content is developed, how it is delivered, and who delivers it (i.e. same age peers vs older peers) often matter. 
Based on what we know from the evidence about incorporating youth voice and leadership into community social media classes, it may be helpful to consider 1) having older youth deliver the classes to younger youth; 2) providing youth leaders with content and resources to use to develop the class rather than having them develop the content from scratch. 

You can also consider including content from youth-led organizations related to social media use and mental health, including:

  • Log Off Movement is a youth-led organization that encourages balanced social media use. This movement includes resources, an online Discord community, podcasts, videos, and campaigns like the Forks Up, Phones Down campaign which encourages face-to-face connection during mealtimes. 

The AAP Center of Excellence has the following resources which may be useful to incorporate in your classes/sessions:

As you think about potential messaging around curriculum, we recommend looking at this book chapter by Weinstein and James (2022): Chapter 15: School-Based Initiatives Promoting Digital Citizenship and Health Digital Media Use (see page 369 for table with overview of programs) 

  • These researchers note to avoid curricula that do not align with research such as:
    • Using the language of “addiction” to characterize everyday media habits.
    • Describing a causal relationship between media activities and mental health issues (e.g., depression, anxiety, suicide risk).
    • Emphasizing total screen time without any attention to the types of digital activities that comprise that time.
    • Including potentially problematic messages and examples of simplistic and likely ineffective instructional approaches (e.g., just telling all students “Don’t compare yourself to others on social media”) (see Weinstein, 2017 for context on why this approach may fall short).
    • Lessons with a clear implication that offline activities are inherently more worthwhile than any online activities.

Here is a list of classes, curriculums, and resources that might be useful in your educational sessions: 

  • Teens & Tech has a free curriculum for middle school educators on how adolescent brain development affects technology use and well-being.  
    • Teens & Tech also features “Teens Teaching Teens,” which is a series of videos created by undergraduate students at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. 
  • Common Sense Education has a comprehensive digital citizenship curriculum for each grade level, including middle school.  
  • Media Power Youth has a curriculum called Screenshots, which is a media literacy curriculum for grades 6-8.  
    • This curriculum includes lesson plans, podcasts, a project and an interactive notebook.
    • The curriculum focuses on thinking critically about social media messages, managing online conflict, exploring how digital media relates to substance use, and practicing empathy when navigating online challenges. 

Mental Health Education  

Here are some valuable resources to integrate mental health education for teens:  

Resources to Recommend to Parents & Caregivers

  • AAP Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health Family Tip Sheet: Provides research-based tips for families to help children develop healthy digital habits.  
  • AAP’s Family Media Plan: The AAP’s Family Media Plan is a tool that families can use to set media priorities and boundaries that include healthy sleep habits around digital media. 
  • The 5 Cs of Media Use – A series of five age-based handouts for parents to guide them in thinking about kids and screens. The 5 Cs are: Child, Content, Calm, Crowding Out, and Communication. 
  • Screen Sanity has a tool called the Social Media Playbook, which is a guide for caregivers and their children to navigate and discuss social media together.  
    • Screen Sanity has companion workbooks for parents of preschoolers, elementary schoolers, and middle schoolers that go along with the Social Media Playbook. Here’s the link to the workbook for middle school parents. 
  • Screen Sanity also has a tool called the Screen Sanity Group Study, which is a set of six video-guided sessions and workbook designed for group study settings. This tool would be ideal for parents who want to meet and discuss digital media use in a study group together. 

References

 

 

 

Age: 10-17

Topics: social media classes, peer-to-peer, youth-led education

Role: Clinician

Last Updated

04/21/2025

Source

American Academy of Pediatrics