YOU BELONG HERE Violence Prevention Curriculum

Sixth Grade

LESSON

Seven

Digital Wellbeing

60 min

This lesson is currently under review with Nest Educational Advisors. Please check back later for updates.

In this lesson, students learn about the effects of social media on mental health, focusing on dopamine-driven addiction, social comparison, and its impact on self-identity. The direct instruction includes an introduction to digital well-being strategies, while the group activity helps students create a Digital Detox Challenge that incorporates resilience habits to counter the negative effects of social media. Through reflection and group work, students build awareness of how they can use healthy digital practices to maintain their mental health and sense of significance. By promoting mindfulness and self-regulation, this lesson equips students with tools to reduce anxiety, improve self-esteem, and manage social media use.
Materials
Handouts
quicklinks

how to prepare for this lesson

At the start of class, teachers should have the following prepared:

  1. Teacher should have groups of three predetermined to save time.
  2. Students should have journals out
  3. Print out copies of 6.7 Digital Detox Challenge
  4. Have link to Log Off Movement Guide ready to distribute (Optional)

lesson clips

Additional Resources

Sources

  • Gallup. (2023). Teens spend an average of 4.8 hours on social media per day.
  • U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2023). Youth mental health and social media advisory.
  • JAMA Psychiatry. (2019). Association of screen time and depression in adolescence. Journal of the American Medical Association Psychiatry.
  • Meshi, D., Tamir, D. I., & Heekeren, H. R. (2015). The emerging neuroscience of social media. Trends in Cognitive Sciences.
  • Vogel, E. A., Rose, J. P., Roberts, L. R., & Eckles, K. (2014). Social comparison, social media, and self-esteem. Psychology of Popular Media Culture.
  • Newport, C. (2019). Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World. Portfolio.
  • Anderson, M., & Jiang, J. (2018). Teens, social media, and technology 2018. Pew Research Center.