For the third year, My Digital TAT2 (MDT2) has selected fifteen (15) High School students for a month-long summer internship. The MDT2 Intern class of 2018 attend ten (10) schools from around the Bay Area and are a diverse group. The goal of the program is to elevate the voices of youth by providing them with opportunities and platforms to speak about their experiences and challenges using social media. This year’s focus will be on internet addiction, the impact of technology on teen mental health and well-being, and strategies for standing up to online hate. This cohort will explore tools to improve communication with parents and adults in their lives and discover peer insights about their age-groups’ use of social media. As a capstone project, each teen will make a formal presentation on a personal area of digital interest; increasing self-awareness, and deepening group learning.
The “youth informed” information gathered and discussions shared during the summer will be integrated into future MDT2 school and parent curricula, ensuring that our content is up-to-date, relevant, and directly from the voices of teens. Children and teens give us hope for the future of the internet; through their insights and visions for the future, we believe they will be the ones to create a “kinder net."