by Elli Jones, Originally published: September 4, 2026
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) – With students no longer allowed to have cell phones in school under a Virginia law, University of Virginia researchers are asking how the digital world is shaping the lives of middle and high schoolers.
Bethany Teachman, co-director of Thriving Youth in a Digital Environment (TYDE), said youth mental health struggles have been ongoing.
“Youth are really struggling with their mental health, and that’s been true for a long time but we’re noticing these high rates,” Teachman said. “It’s not necessarily the case that technology is the reason for those high rates but it is the case that teens are spending a lot of time with technology.”
Nancy Deutsch is the other co-director of TYDE, an initiative meant to understand and improve the digital world teens are invested in.
“The only way that we’re going to be able to build better policies and advise technology companies on how to build better technologies that are safer for young people is to study what’s happening now,” Deutsch said.
Evan Anderson, a pediatric psychologist with UVA Health, said social media has become a large part of the conversation when it comes to teen anxiety and depression.
“Does it cause all these things? Probably not,” Anderson said. “Does it make it a lot worse? Yes.”
Anderson shared that building physical social relationships can help with the high rates of mental health issues.
“Social media is not really about facilitating healthy relationships, its about bringing you back to the platform over and over and over again,” Anderson said. “Focus on using social media to facilitate in-person meet-ups.”
Deutsch and Teachman said it is important to know the conversation is not just about students losing time with their phones, but about what they get back in return.
