Sapiens, how are you?
I greatly enjoyed all the responses to our recent post about whether some families are more likely to have all boys or all girls.1 Lots of discussion of “sibship size” and your stories of families with 5, 6, or more kids all of the same sex (!).
On my end, I’ve reached the stage of pregnancy where strangers look at my very round belly and reference a beach ball2 multiple times per day.
Which, speaking of round, leads us to this month’s research roundup! [I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist].
Today we’ve got:
New research from my lab on teens’ social media experiences
The latest data on adults’ support for school cell phone bans
And a bonus for paying subscribers: a new study on infant crying and nighttime wakeups, plus some fun footnotes
Let’s get to it!
1. From my lab: on social media, teens are…having fun?
We hear a lot about teens’ “social media use” as if its some amorphous blob lurking behind their screens, never stopping to think about what’s actually happening on there. So, what kinds of experiences are teens having on social media? And how is it affecting their emotions day-to-day?
In this study, my colleagues and I set out to find the answer. For 15 days, we3 texted 94 early teens (ages 12 to 15) with 3-5 short surveys everyday. We asked them about a range of positive and negative social media experiences they might have had in the past couple hours, as well as how they were feeling at the moment.
Here are the highlights:
Teens reported more frequent positive than negative social media experiences
When teens reported more positive social media experiences at a given moment, they also reported more positive emotions at that moment. Same thing with negative experiences and negative emotions.
But social media experiences did not predict any future emotions, suggesting either that these effects are very short-lived, or that social media use isn’t actually causing the changes in emotion
My take: This study is incredibly innovative, well-run, importa—oh, what’s that? I might be a little biased? Fine. But if you’ll indulge me, here’s what I find to be one of the most interesting aspects of the paper: the number of teens reporting negative social media experiences (surprisingly low!) and positive social media experiences (surprisingly high!) during the 15-day study period.
Over the course of 15 days, this is the percentage of teens who said they had each of these experiences on social media at least once:
I saw something that made me feel upset or uncomfortable: 39%
I got bullied, harassed, or teased: 7%
Someone made negative comments or said mean things to me: 18%
I saw something that made me feel happy or inspired: 80%
Someone shared something funny or entertaining with me: 78%
People said supportive or encouraging things to me: 57%
There were other measures too, but overall, 59% of teens reported any negative experience on social media over those 15 days, and 90% reported any positive experience. This does not mean we can or should dismiss the negatives—but it’s a good reminder to make sure we’re talking to teens about the good stuff, too. Jour of Adol.
2. How are we feeling about school cell phone bans?
A new school year is upon us, and that means plenty of renewed debate about whether cell phones should be allowed in schools. According to a new study from our BFFs at Pew Research Center, support for school cell phone bans is inching up. They surveyed a nationally representative sample of over 5,000 U.S. adults, and here’s what they found:
44% support all-day bans (up from 36% last fall)
74% support bans during class (up from 68% last fall)
Over 60% believe cell phone bans will have a positive impact on kids’ social skills, grades, and behavior in class
People are split on the role of state and local governments in enacting these types of bans.
36% are concerned government policies will not go far enough in regulating students’ cell phone use, and 29% worry the policies will go too far
Republicans are more likely than Democrats to worry that policies will be too lax (41% vs. 32%)
My take: It seems that support for school cell phone bans is inching up, which we’re also seeing reflected in new state, district, and school policies. Next up, I’d love to see the numbers separated out for the groups most directly affected: teachers, administrators, parents, and of course, students themselves. As a reminder, if you’d like a full Techno Sapiens rundown of the research behind school cell phone policies, check out this post. Pew Research Center
Also! If your school has implemented, or is planning to implement, a new cell phone policy, check out this new tool from The Stanford Social Media Lab and Tech and Society Lab at NYU Stern. The Toolkit for Assessing Phones in Schools (TAPS) offers surveys for students, teachers, parents, and administrators to help schools assess the impact of any new policies. I’m always a fan of more data (surprise, surprise), so this seems like a win to me!
3. Why do some babies cry more than others?
Ever wonder why your friend’s baby seemed to spend their days happily (quietly) nestled in a baby carrier, while your baby screamed bloody murder all night long?4 Are some babies just born that way? Is there anything you can do about it?
A new study suggests: a little bit of both.