Simon Daniel

My research focuses on how to effectively implement mental health services in school-based settings to promote youths’ social-emotional well-being. Lately, I’ve been motivated to use large-scale data to understand how system-level and ecological factors, like state policies, school climate, and locale, impact youth behavioral functioning. I’m especially interested in studying technology-related policies and outcomes, given how many unanswered questions we have about them.

In my daily life, digital technology is ingrained into almost every aspect. From recording workouts, tracking sleep, finding creative and fun ways to connect with friends and family, and of course, my work, to scanning handwritten notes so that I can save them and use text recognition. The convenience, portability, and archivability of digitally taken notes can’t be beat, but this helps me stay connected to pen and paper.

In my opinion, the main challenges that young people face navigating the world of digital technology and/or social media include:

• The rapid development of technology can leave adults scrambling to figure out how to best provide safe, beneficial ways for kids to engage.
• Digital spaces hold so much promise for supporting the development of young people, but our kids may find us divided on how to support them as they navigate an ever-changing digital world.
• We need to promote greater scientific inquiry into how to promote healthy relationships between young people and technology.
• We should double down on teaching and promoting the social-emotional skills we know help kids (and adults) navigate the world already—things like building and maintaining meaningful relationships, making responsible decisions, regulating one’s emotions, and more.