HARRISBURG — Attorney General Dave Sunday announced the culmination of the teenTALK program for the 2025-26 school year — a 20-page report highlighting the series of roundtable discussions with students about social media, and recommended action points for all Pennsylvanians.
teenTALK involved closed-door meetings between students and Attorney General Sunday about how students use social media and how technology impacts their mental health. In recent months, Attorney General Sunday spoke with about 160 students from 35 schools across the Commonwealth.
Students spoke candidly about — despite the many benefits — how social media can be all-consuming and sources of stress and anxiety. The report represents the main themes offered by the students.
READ THE REPORT HERE.
”I commend these student leaders for offering me a seat at the table and sharing insight into very personal experiences and feelings they have about social media,” Attorney General Sunday. “As an elected official, my duty is to protect Pennsylvanians from rapidly-evolving technology, specifically how A.I. and chatbots are influencing young minds to do and say things they may not otherwise. I will continue my office’s efforts to hold tech companies accountable and work alongside community and government partners to explore ways to rid online spaces of toxic content.”
To bolster and centralize those efforts within the office, Attorney General Sunday recently established a Technology and Privacy Protection Unit, within the office’s Public Protection Division.
Included in the teenTALK report are sentiments gathered from the students during the roundtable discussions, including:
”It always agrees with you, even when you might be wrong.”
”Once you watch one thing, it just keeps feeding you more.”
“We know it’s not great — but it’s just too hard to stop. We’re stuck.”
Berks Catholic High School students Rosalie Perlman and Gabby Frey spoke at a media event Wednesday about their experiences with the program.
The report also includes a series of recommended action steps for several groups — students, schools, parents, government leaders, and social media companies. While no changes in law or policy are effectuated by the report, the calls to action are based on student input.
A few examples of the recommended action steps:
- Students are challenged to reassess the value of in-person interactions and experiences. While using social media, disable and block harmful/toxic content that may appear unsolicited. Curate your feeds to promote positivity.
- Parents are challenged to model healthy online habits for their children. Continue having difficult conversations with your children about what they are seeing online.
- School leaders are encouraged to continue monitoring and teaching students about digital safety. Inform students what constitutes a credible source of information.
- Government leaders are implored to assess existing laws regarding criminal acts of abuse online and what restrictions are in place to protect kids online. Collaborate with school, community, business, and other government leaders.
- Social media companies are challenged to monitor what is appearing on their platforms — and take immediate action to remove harmful content. Prioritize user safety over financial success.
“We are not pointing fingers from the sidelines — on behalf of my office, I intend to be an active participant in finding solutions that promote student wellness,” Attorney General Sunday said. “teenTALK was a learning endeavor, and we want to do all we can to ensure the students’ efforts and contributions result in positive change.”
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