HIGHLIGHTS

• WFU’s Center for Literacy Education hosted an interdisciplinary symposium exploring how tablets, smartphones and laptops are affecting teens.
• Experts from private universities, public research institutions, a medical school, and a state government agency shared insights.
• The gathering advances the University’s interdisciplinary initiative to connect brain science with pressing societal issues.

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Watching his kindergartener play on a school playground, Alan Brown, director of the Wake Forest Center for Literacy Education, found the theme for this year’s Visiting Scholars Speaker Series.

“I was thinking a lot about a conversation that had been happening here and across the country around what should or should not be the use of cellphones in schools,” Brown said. “Students learn in so many different ways and in so many different forms of engagement that this would be a topic that would probably bring folks from across many disciplines together.”

The symposium, “Hold the Phone: Exploring the Intersections of Screen Time, Brain Health and Learning,” held on Monday, March 23 at the University’s Porter Byrum Welcome Center, examined various aspects of a subject vital to the future – how screen time on tablets, smartphones and computers is affecting the younger generation.

This was the second annual gathering for the Center for Literacy Education’s Visiting Scholars Speaker Series and Community Networking Conference, where conference leaders select a topic with the potential to spark interest across the University and the local community.

“Given Wake Forest’s neuroscience and society initiative, exploring the intersections of screen time, brain health and learning felt like a timely and relevant discussion,” said Brown.

From pediatrics to philosophy: breaking silos

Six panels, scheduled for 25 minutes each, featured moderators and panelists with diverse expertise, including pediatrics, psychology, teaching and learning, communication, cognitive development, philosophy, and neuroscience.

Many of the panelists mentioned their family experiences as well as discussions with students who have grown up with technology much more ingrained in their lives than in many previous generations. According to a 2025 Pew Research Center Fact Sheet, 96% of U.S. teens use the internet daily, with the figure even higher among older teens, and 95% have access to a smartphone.

The experts

Panel discussions covered a variety of topics.

• Screen time, play, and healthy living: Professor of Pediatrics Dr. Joey Skelton (WFU School of Medicine) and Professor of Psychological Sciences Michele K. Lewis (Winston-Salem State University) discussed ways of finding balance between screen time, playtime and family interaction, such as sitting down to meals and “breaking bread” together with electronics set aside.

• Content over quantity: Wake Forest professors Shannon Brady (psychology), Marina Krcmar (communication) and Michaeline Jensen, associate professor of psychology (UNC-Greensboro) explored how important it is that parents and families engage in technology with their children, such as playing educational video games together. Krcmar pointed out that what children watch often matters more than how long they watch it.

• Cognitive development and brain health: Remi Kalir (Center for Teaching and Learning – Duke) engaged with psychology and neuroscience professors Mitch Prinstein and Eva Telzer (UNC-Chapel Hill) about how teenagers use social media in different ways than their parents, for better or worse, and how emotional intimacy and trust issues have changed in recent years. Philosophy professor Ana Itlis (WFU), Boswell Presidential Chair in Neuroscience Ken Kishida (WFU), and neuroscience professor Maya Opendak (Johns Hopkins University) discussed value-based decision making in teenagers, understanding the mechanisms of addiction, and cultivating wonder and curiosity.

“Hearing very similar things come up from those different spaces makes me even more confident in the takeaways,” said Brady.

A complete list of panels and panelists can be found on the Center for Literacy Education website.

A “beautiful messy process.”

The symposium was held at a critical time for North Carolina. Panelist Vera Cubero from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction described learning as a “beautiful, messy process.”  

At Wake Forest, this complexity is addressed through projects like the Community Listening Frameworks. By prioritizing “daunting listening” over a “fix-it” mindset, students have built deeper partnerships with local organizations like Authoring Action. Their work shifted from standard tutoring to high-impact support in grant writing, marketing, and curriculum expansion—using communication and literacy as tools for mutual empowerment.

The mission of Wake Forest’s Center for Literacy Education is to promote creative intellectual partnerships that facilitate interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching and bring literacy to life through community engagement. 

— Contributed by Tim Clodfelter