The American Psychological Association and U.S. Surgeon General have tied social media to an alarming and ongoing teen mental health crisis. According to Pew Research, two-thirds of parents feel overwhelmed by their child’s tech use and nearly 50% of teens say overuse of social media harms them or their friends. Concerned by this growing problem and drawing on her two decades of experience and expertise teaching media literacy to teens, Berger brings a singular point of view and real-world solution with the creation of The Social Media Driver’s License.
“The research is clear that the adoption of social media and smartphones is harming teens in a myriad of ways,” said Berger. “I know firsthand, from my years of experience teaching media literacy to teens, that helping kids develop the skills to understand and engage with the media they encounter as they adopt new technologies is critical to ending the ongoing teen mental health crisis.”
Built to be flexible and relatable, with teen hosts and parents sharing real-world experiences, The Social Media Driver’s License has two tracks – one for parents and one for the pre-smartphone child. This enables parents and their kids to learn and engage with each other as they forge a responsible and successful relationship with social media, texting, gaming, and other digital media.
“This is the first time someone has pulled together a comprehensive program covering so many critical topics in such a compelling way,” noted Michelle Ciulla Lipkin, former executive director of the National Association for Media Literacy Education. “I’m thrilled to see The Social Media Driver’s License come to life, and know from talking to parents around the country that this is filling an enormous gap for them as they grapple with their children’s adoption of smartphones and social media.”
Across ten video sessions, youth participants in The Social Media Driver’s License will learn how to analyze, understand, and react to common online situations using proven media literacy skills. Lessons include: the downsides of comparing yourself to others, knowing when to find mental health support, staying safe without being afraid, what to do when encountering strangers online, dealing with inappropriate content, handling texting-related conflict, developing healthy digital habits as a life skill, seeing through addictive design, resisting the power of advertising, and more.
A companion podcast series offers parents conversation starters for effective tech-related talks with kids and teens, methods for supporting maturing kids’ tech use instead of monitoring them, along with insights from other parents and experts on raising balanced and healthy teens in a digital age.
“Navigating social media is more complex than ever for youth and families. I’m excited to see Ready Set Screen deliver a hands-on, practical resource like The Social Media Driver’s License that parents and young people can use together to prepare them from the start to have safer, healthier experiences online,” said Vicki Harrison, Program Director, Center for Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing at Stanford Medicine.
“While every family will have their own rules and restrictions around technology, the research is clear that developing safe, healthy habits that stay with them throughout their lives is key to protecting their overall mental health,” added Berger. “I’m proud to apply my years of experience in media literacy education to helping parents and teens do just that.”
I had a chance to learn more in this interview.
For more information, please visit the Social Media Driver’s License.
About Jennifer Berger A tireless advocate for helping teens become smart consumers of media of all kinds, Berger recently reached the 20-year mark of working full-time in media literacy education, drawing on a passion for making girls and women aware of how media impacts them. That passion started in her college years at University of Michigan when she saw Dr. Jean Kilbourne’s seminal film “Killing Us Softly.” Since 2001, she’s helped teens question media and take their own action through her work as executive director of About-Face in San Francisco. Berger transformed it from an all-volunteer activist group into a first-of-its-kind nonprofit, which helped more than 10,000 teens question their media and understand how it can affect their self-esteem. She recently led the organization through another transformation, bringing media literacy and more to parents, kids, and teens, through a nationally available program, The Social Media Driver’s License. Please visit: https://jenniferlberger.com/
Why is it important for families to have open conversations about social media?
Every parent wants to have a warm relationship with their kids, and there are so many big and small topics to talk about, so the ones about social media sometimes move to the back burner. But we have to remember that silence doesn't protect kids — it just leaves them without guidance. Most parents I talk to want to have these conversations, but they don't know where to start, or they're worried about saying the wrong thing. And meanwhile, their kids are already navigating a world full of comparing oneself to others, curated highlight reels, and strangers trying to chat with them. Kids don’t often talk about these things proactively.
When families talk openly about social media — not just the rules, but the why behind them — kids learn to think for themselves, and more carefully, about what they're seeing and experiencing online. They're more likely to come to a parent when something feels off. And parents get a window into their child's digital life that they simply don't have otherwise. These conversations don't have to be perfect. And they may not feel comfortable. But they have to happen.
How does a framework like the Social Media Driver's License help empower children to make healthy and safe choices regarding social media?
Think about how we prepare kids to drive a car. We don't hand them the keys and hope for the best — we teach them the rules of the road, what to watch out for, how to handle unexpected situations. Nobody looks at a 15-year-old and says, "I'm sure they'll figure out how to merge onto the highway on their own." And yet that's basically what we do with social media, smartphones, and online gaming.
The Social Media Driver's License gives kids a real set of skills — not a list of don'ts or fears they should have. Topics like: How to recognize when content is designed to manipulate their emotions. How to protect their privacy (and why). How to handle conflict in texts and chats. How to think about their own values and futures before they post something they can't take back.
What I've seen in my 20 years of working with young people is that when you give kids real tools and tell them you think they’re capable, they rise to the challenge. Empowerment isn't about removing access — it's about building the judgment to use these tools intentionally and intelligently.
Parents are a huge part of teaching kids to drive a car, but also in helping them navigate the online world. The short parent course in the Social Media Driver’s License empowers parents to support their kids and have the right conversations at the right time. Kids will learn where the guardrails are and build confidence, but then parents can plug in and even learn something new for themselves.
How can parents and guardians incorporate the Driver's License even if their kids are already using social media?
It's never too late — and honestly, I hear this from so many parents I meet: “My kid already has a smartphone.” Starting the Social Media Driver's License when your child is already on social media actually has a real advantage: the content is immediately relevant to them. They're not learning hypothetically — they're applying it to things they're already experiencing. That tends to make the conversations richer and the lessons stick better.
The reality is that very few kids get this kind of preparation before they're on social media and phones. That’s the ideal time. But that ship has sailed for a lot of families, and that's okay. We're not here to make anyone feel bad about the past two years of unchecked scrolling.
What I'd encourage parents to do is to do the parent course at the same time their kid is doing their portion, not just hand it to them. The Social Media Driver’s License Parent Companion audio course — like a set of short podcast episodes — is build for this, so you're both learning, and you have a shared language and conversation starters to actually talk about what comes up. That's where the real shift happens: not just in what your kid knows, but in the trust you can build together that can keep them safe, smart, and healthy online. They’ll be much more likely to come to you when online situations go sideways.
For more information, please visit the Social Media Driver’s License.
About Jennifer Berger A tireless advocate for helping teens become smart consumers of media of all kinds, Berger recently reached the 20-year mark of working full-time in media literacy education, drawing on a passion for making girls and women aware of how media impacts them. That passion started in her college years at University of Michigan when she saw Dr. Jean Kilbourne’s seminal film “Killing Us Softly.” Since 2001, she’s helped teens question media and take their own action through her work as executive director of About-Face in San Francisco. Berger transformed it from an all-volunteer activist group into a first-of-its-kind nonprofit, which helped more than 10,000 teens question their media and understand how it can affect their self-esteem. She recently led the organization through another transformation, bringing media literacy and more to parents, kids, and teens, through a nationally available program, The Social Media Driver’s License. Please visit: https://jenniferlberger.com/
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