​​The California Partners Project is engaged in a statewide listening tour with mothers, parents, and caregivers to understand how they are navigating the integration of technology and devices into most aspects of their children’s lives. Online, multiplayer games are played by millions of young people. Many caregivers shared their deep concerns about the intensity with which their children and teens play online games and noted the difficulty they faced pulling their kids away from gaming. A mom of a 12-year-old boy in Oakland told CPP, “It became so much gaming and that is all he wants to do.” Another mom, from southern California, shared “For my teenager, he spends so much time gaming…he does all of his social activity gaming.” For parents today, the experience of socializing through gaming is new. A recent survey shows that youth report gaming is both helpful for their social lives and can present risks such as harassment. However, through conversation and connection, gaming can be part of a diverse set of developmental experiences if other recreational opportunities continue.

The California Partners Project is engaged in a statewide listening tour with California mothers, parents, and caregivers to understand how parents are navigating the integration of technology and devices into most aspects of their children’s lives. A mom in Northern CA shared her concern that “socially we noticed with the older kids, if they stayed online too long, they didn't even know how to hold a five-minute conversation.” A mom in Southern CA shared that her family is trying “to replace the technology and bring my son back into human connection.” Parents have noticed that their children’s social skills are lagging. Social emotional skills and social norms have been upended due to the pandemic.They express concern about how to boost their children’s social-emotional skills as in-person social interactions increase. Open-ended questions facilitate authentic conversation. Consider whether your children know how to introduce themselves to others and how this simple act can build community and connection. Social skills can help kids achieve what they need in terms of friendships, family relationships and school partnerships.

In its second year, CPP doubled down on this vision of partnership. Our gender equity work continued focus on producing hard data tracking of the success of California’s first-in-the-nation law promoting women on public company boards and gave women of color a platform to highlight their expertise. We added an Advisory Council on Child Wellbeing to our team, including six Youth Ambassadors, each a leader in her own right. We then introduced an academic team to support our Youth Ambassadors as they set out to articulate what their generation needs from the tech industry.