Ask most parents and educators what they’ve told their kids about social media and it often comes down to three things: be careful with what you post, don’t message with strangers, don’t give out any private information. That’s all good and important guidance kids need to hear in a world where social media has become a conduit for bullying, body shaming, and, at its worst, sexual abuse. Even so, a new national study released this month by the Seattle-based education research organization foundry10 suggests that leaving the conversation at those three rules may be falling short, and that teenagers want more.
foundry10, working with NORC at the University of Chicago, surveyed 1,027 U.S. high schoolers ages 14–18 between June and August 2025 — the first nationally representative study of its kind in the country. The bottom line: most teens aren’t getting meaningful social media education, and the instruction they do receive tends to focus on what can go wrong rather than how to actually navigate the challenges of social media spaces.
Parents are top information source
Parents are both the most common and most trusted source of guidance, according to the study, with 76 percent of teens saying they learned about social media from a parent or caregiver and 69 percent naming parents as the most helpful source.
Teachers were the second most likely source of education and guidance at 57 percent. Twenty percent of teens reported learning about social media from their peers.
What any of these sources cover in terms of social media education matters. Nearly three-quarters of teens surveyed said they had received instruction on risks — cyberbullying, misinformation, privacy breaches. However, fewer than six in ten said anyone had talked to them about social media’s genuine uses or benefits. It’s a gap that has real consequences in terms of teen confidence around social media engagement.
“One of the most striking findings in this study was that balanced social media education mattered. Teens who learned about both the risks and benefits of social media felt more confident and empowered online than those exposed only to fear-based messaging,” said Jennifer Rubin, in a release. Rubin is the principal investigator of the foundry10 Digital Technologies and Education Lab.
The study also found that most teens are operating blind when it comes to how social media platforms actually work. More than half said they had at least some understanding of how recommendation algorithms shape what they see in their feeds. However, when they were tested, most could name only a few of of seven actual factors that influence what shows up. According to Pew Research, nearly every American teen uses social media, yet the systems driving what they see onscreen remain largely invisible to them.
One interesting study point: Nearly two-thirds of the teens surveyed by foundry10 said education about social media should begin before age 13 — which aligns with data showing that close to 40 percent of kids ages 8–12 are already on platforms that require users to be 13 or older.
Tips on the talks
foundry10 offered parents and educators five tips to empower teens to independently navigate social media safely and responsibly:
- Start early and keep talking. Begin conversations about social media before age 13 and continue them regularly to support healthy digital habits and open communication.
- Learn together. Treat social media as a co-learning experience where teens can share their first-hand experiences with social media platforms, and parents can offer perspective and practical guidance.
- Empower instead of restrict. Teens in this study who reported more rules and restrictions surrounding social media use, also reported lower confidence and greater overwhelm when navigating online spaces.
- Talk about risks and rewards. Acknowledge the opportunities for creativity, connection, and self-expression that social media offers while offering guidance on how to ensure safety and privacy.
- Prioritize trust over perfection. Parents do not need to have all the answers; the most important goal is to create an environment where teens feel comfortable talking honestly about their digital experiences.
Looking up
One signal of change: younger teens in the Gen Alpha range — ages 14 and 15 — were more likely than their older peers to have received guidance from both parents and teachers, and to have started those conversations earlier in childhood.
“Adults have spent years debating whether social media is good or bad for teens, but far less attention has been paid to how young people actually learn to navigate these spaces,” Rubin said. “What we found is that many teens are not asking for fewer conversations about social media. They are asking for better ones.”
The full report, The State of Social Media Literacy Education in the United States, includes recommendations for parents, teachers, school administrators, and the platforms themselves.
