Episode
Evolving Online Safety from Childhood to Adulthood with Amanda Lenhart
- Podcast
- Doing Tech Right
- Published
- Apr 10, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2859
- Processing state
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Summary
Larry hosts Amanda Lenhart to discuss her newest study for the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, where kids and parents used playful activities to surface challenges and brainstorm solutions for managing technology at home. Lenhart explains a key takeaway: digital parenting is cyclical—families repeatedly research, adopt, “unbox,” and then continually manage devices as children mature and new tools arrive—creating exhaustion but also building experience parents can reuse. They compare tech safety to car safety (airbags, seat belts, car seats), arguing for stronger safety-by-design defaults alongside optional fine-grained controls. They discuss shifting risks, moral panics, rapid tech change, platform incentives, social media age bans, and the importance of respectful, ongoing conversations focused on maturity signals, balance, and scaffolding kids toward independent digital adulthood. 00:00 Welcome to Doing Tech 00:29 Meet Amanda Lenhart 01:05 Inside the Cooney Study 01:40 Playful Co Design Methods 03:18 Why Younger Kids Matter 06:27 Joan Ganz Cooney Center 07:25 Parenting Tech Cycle 11:29 Exhausted Parents Burden 14:01 Safety by Design Defaults 16:38 How Tech Has Changed 17:49 Perjuvenile and Risk Fears 19:14 Media Narratives vs Data 21:34 Meta Verdict Turning Point 22:22 Why Change Fails Inside Big Tech 25:20 Tech Change Outpaces Research 26:41 Parent Talks Not Lectures 27:48 Maturity Signals For Devices 29:37 Holding The Line With Teens 32:15 Bans And Digital Adulthood 33:26 Australia Under 16 Ban 35:26 Youth Pushback And Analog Trends 38:40 From Attention To Attachment AI 43:04 Parent Advice Balance Over Bans 45:31 Neurodivergent Kids And Gaming Wins 46:35 Closing Thoughts And Optimism