By Matilda Petkus
“For teens who grew up with technology, those digital platforms are woven into the fabric of their lives” (Alvord, 2023)
Youth advisory boards (YABs) are formal groups that blend the points of view of adolescents and researchers to create interventions and influences on policies and practices that affect the lives of teens. There are a variety of effects that youth groups can have on issues surrounding technology use, ranging from social media use to cyberbullying. Considering that youth advisory boards blend diverse perspectives on technology, they can act as spaces where adolescents of all ages and backgrounds are encouraged to express their voices and opinions.
As the creation of youth advisory boards are on the rise, it is natural to wonder why the opinions of adolescents are important in scientific spaces. As youth are exposed to technology and media at increasingly younger ages, and as discourse on teen technology use rises, it is essential that teens feel comfortable sharing their experiences and opinions on social media use to foster beneficial relationships with technology. Educating teens on both the positive and negative effects of social media can give teens a diverse view of the impacts of technology. Teens use technology in a multitude of ways in their everyday lives, including fostering social connections, completing schoolwork, physical activity, personal enjoyment, and creative expression. Additionally, many grant funders ask for youth advisory input in grants to ensure that proposed studies and interventions are feasible and acceptable from the perspective of adolescents. With technology being a constant element in the lives of youth, teens should have spaces where they are able to make positive impacts on technology policies and improvements.
While collaborating with researchers on youth advisory boards, many teens develop skills in scientific research such as learning how to write grant proposals, how to interpret data and conduct a survey, gain skills in public speaking, and more. Providing teens this opportunity to collaborate with researchers allows adolescents to gain future career and professional development. In the Technology and Adolescent Mental Wellness (TAM) Program, youth can gain this type of laboratory experience, learn about different perspectives on technology from fellow youth advisors and researchers, and also attend the yearly colloquium. Prevalent topics that the TAM Youth Advisory Board are currently discussing include how AI is shaping technology use and school phone bans.
As technology is becoming a vital part of many adolescent’s everyday life, youth advisory boards provide teens with the opportunity to make an impact on the scientific community, government policies, the opinions of parents and physicians, and can help foster social change. As youth voices are established in research spaces, this can create opportunities for more relevant and beneficial policies for teens, allow teens to become more comfortable voicing their opinions on these topics, can lead to more academic and career opportunities, and can increase adolescent health outcomes. If you are interested in getting more involved in your community, many counties have youth leadership opportunities on their websites. If you are interested in contacting the TAM Youth Advisory Board, we would love to hear from you! You can email us at tamprogram@pediatrics.wisc.edu with any questions you have or if you’re interested in getting involved. If you want to learn more about the TAM Youth Advisory Board in general, click here!