Navigating Technology

Building Healthy Digital Relationships

Based on the 2025 Indiana Girl Report, including interviews with 91 girls across Indiana and perspectives from 130 caregivers and youth professionals.

What Girls Need from Digital Spaces

Indiana girls told us they want help navigating technology’s complexity, not elimination of tools that provide genuine connection. They understand both the benefits and risks but need guidance for making intentional choices about their digital lives.

"Social media messes with people's brains because nowadays people will do anything for a single like or a follow." — Girl Scout Troop 00044
"Stop taking our phones when we're in trouble – it makes depression/anxiety worse and cuts us off from everything." — Girl, Southwest Indiana

Girls want adults to recognize that their online and offline social lives are interconnected—”it’s all real life”—while also understanding the unique challenges digital spaces create.

Key Insights from Girls

Technology as Social Lifeline

For many girls, especially those feeling isolated, digital platforms provide essential connections to communities and interests that may not exist locally.

The Comparison Trap

Girls recognize how curated content affects them: “People don’t post normal things, just the perfect things about their life” and understand this creates unrealistic standards.

Complex Group Dynamics

Online relationships intensify peer challenges—girls worry about exclusion from group chats and feel suspicious about conversations happening without them.

Energy vs. Drain

Girls can identify which digital activities energize versus deplete them, noting that outdoor time feels restorative while excessive phone use “drains my energy.”

Understanding Shared Concerns

Common Ground Between Generations: Girls and adults share more concerns about digital life than either group realizes. Both worry about social media’s addictive pull, drama, and unhealthy comparison. The difference lies in their approach to solutions.

"When you layer in social media and online life, it's just a whole other level." — Community Leader & Parent, Southern Indiana

The Challenge for Caring Adults: Digital cruelty is often invisible to adults who might otherwise intervene. As one youth professional noted: “It’s easier to be mean online than it is in person. It makes harmful interactions harder to observe and harder to intervene in.”

What This Means for Families:

1. Recognize that girls understand technology's risks and want help
2. Focus on teaching navigation skills rather than just restricting access
3. Remember that online connections can be lifelines, especially for isolated or introverted girls
4. Understand that "bedrooms aren't safe spaces" anymore—digital supervision requires new approaches
"You were young once, too, but you weren't young now." — Girl to youth program provider

Resources and Support

For Girls: Taking Control of Your Digital Experience

Girl Scouts: Map Your Digital Landscape Track your technology habits for one week using their Digital Data Tracker. Ask yourself:

  • How do you feel BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER using each app?
  • Which online interactions energize you vs. drain you?
  • What content makes you feel good vs. worse about yourself?

Digital Wellness Strategies:

Curate Intentionally

Unfollow accounts that make you feel worse; follow those that inspire or educate

UNDErstand Algorithms

Your likes and comments shape what you see—engage mindfully

Create Boundaries

Avoid devices during meals, before bed, and during focus time

Use Values as Your Guide

Let your personal values shape how you interact online

For Families: Collaborative Approach to Technology

NAMI Guide: Social Media & Mental Health Evidence-based guidance for parents navigating questions about screen time, phone timing, and monitoring social media.

American Academy of Pediatrics: Family Media Plan Customizable tool for creating personalized guidelines that reflect your family’s values, schedules, and needs rather than one-size-fits-all rules.

Conversation Starters That Work:

  • “How do you decide who or what to follow on your profile?”
  • “Have you noticed times when it’s harder to get off social media? What helps you stop?”
  • “What do you think of my phone use habits? What could I do better?”
  • “Are there times that are important to you for me to be present and not on a device?”
Focus on Digital Citizenship

Teach kids about algorithms, data privacy, and how technology companies influence user behavior rather than just restricting access.

Model Healthy Use

Demonstrate intentional technology use and create tech-free spaces that prioritize face-to-face connection.

Teach Critical Thinking

Help girls analyze how different apps and platforms make them feel and develop skills for making conscious choices about engagement.

For more information, see the full 2025 Indiana Girl Report.