Importantly, there is a difference between a teen’s perception of harm when answering survey questions and their responses to more objective measures of harm, such as those acquired through empirically validated checklists designed to assess well-being and mental health. As Candice Odgers, a psychologist who studies adolescence at The University of California at Irvine and Duke University has found, many teens report that screens are harmful when asked because they are under the impression that they are harmful. Somewhat paradoxically, perceptions that screens are harmful to kids and teens are perpetuated by scary headlines, which prove, in a way, that screens are causing harm because we are living in fear of screen harm.

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