foundry10

Most U.S. teens are on social media every day, but few are receiving consistent, comprehensive education about how it shapes their lives.

foundry10's Digital Technologies and Education Lab, in partnership with NORC at the University of Chicago, surveyed 1,027 high school students nationwide to understand what social media guidance teens are actually getting, who is delivering it, and what they wish were different.
Here is what the data shows:
📌 Only 1 in 5 teens discuss social media with parents on a weekly basis.
📌 72% of teens learned about dangers like cyberbullying, but only 57% learned about benefits.
📌Teens from lower-income households were less likely to receive instruction from teachers.

Read the full white paper: https://ow.ly/wXrV50Z6m0m

foundry10 researchers are heading to Brighton, United Kingdom as finalists in the Research and Design Challenge at the Interaction Design and Children (IDC) 2026 Conference, one of only three teams selected from submissions around the world.

Associate Researcher Riddhi Divanji, Program Developer Jayne Everson, Senior Researcher Travis W. Windleharth, and Graduate Student Researcher Aayushi Dangol will present their work on Thursday, June 25.

The project brought together a team of middle school youth and researchers to co-design an AI-powered robotic fish built to detect invasive Eurasian watermilfoil, combining robotics, 3D modeling, and AI classification with youth-centered, sustainability-focused learning. Their paper will be published in the IDC 2026 conference proceedings, with the winner and runner-up announced during the event.