Join us on this journey as we rethink the relationship between students and screens, and learn how to take back control in a world that’s always "on".

The countdown to mid-December is on and I bet we could guess what you’re busy with right now.  

Are you wrapping up your exams and paper submissions? Or unwrapping your consoles and video games that got dusty while you aced those exams? Or maybe you’re lingering on online shopping sites, waiting for the moment we finally start wrapping holiday gifts. Regardless of what we're doing, we’re constantly plugged into the digital world.  
 
In this episode of Well-being and YU, our host Susu B. sits down with Dr. Roxanne Cohen, Postdoctoral Fellow and Senior Research Associate at the Young Lives Research Lab, Co-Director of the Rooted & Rising Leadership Program, and Co-Community Fellow at the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research. Dr. Cohen leads youth advisory committees shaping research on youth and planetary well-being in the digital age. Her work connects digital wellness, mental health, climate resilience and human rights, including co-developing a no-cost digital citizenship and well-being platform. 
 
Dr. Cohen brings a research-informed—but deeply human—perspective to what digital well-being truly means for students. Together, we explore how young people engage with technology, what “purposeful use” can look like and how digital habits affect our mental and physical wellness. Importantly, Dr. Cohen highlights why students and youth should not be blamed for the role technology plays in our daily tasks, and why compassion, awareness and small behavioural shifts matter more than guilt.