Reboot President Helen Lee Bouygues appeared on Bloom TV to discuss why social media’s detrimental effects on users’ mental health and decision making should be treated like a public health crisis. With clear evidence about social media’s role in spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories, and research showing a link to higher rates of depression and other mental health problems, it is past time for public health officials to act.

The “Freedom Convoy” protests that swept through Canada and some European nations in the winter of 2022 were the latest example of how a small group of right-wing agitators use misinformation and social media to hijack grassroots protest movements for their political purposes. Reboot President Helen Lee Bouygues is cited in this piece in The Toronto Star.

Our brains are wired for certain biases such negativity bias (which prods us to give greater credence to negative information) and the confirmation bias (which leads us to look for news that confirms our pre-existing ideas). In an interview with ABC’s WFAA Channel 8 in Dallas, Reboot President Helen Lee Bouygues outlines critical thinking steps we can take to overcome our cognitive biases.

The Reboot Foundation suggests parents keep an eye on their children’s social media use in the New Year, and gives tips and pointers on how users can improve their media literacy by keeping their emotions in check when reading the news and by questioning the sources cited articles. 

In an interview with The Catholic News Service, Reboot President Helen Lee Bouygues argues that social media use, especially among young people, is a public health crisis and the best way to combat it is to teach critical thinking and media literacy skills, starting at a young age.

The question of “how” to teach critical thinking skills has proven to be elusive, especially in this era of standardized curriculum and test-driven accountability for schools. How can teachers also ensure they’re supporting critical thinking in their students? It turns out they can do this by adding one simple step in their daily routine – a critical thinking challenge or query to kickstart students’ brains and encourage them to better analyze the information before them.