CURRENT RESEARCH

During the 2019-2020 academic year, Dr. Walsh’s research focused on digital hate speech. Her research involved in-depth interviews and focus groups with 6th-12th grade students and administrators. It is clear that our kids are seeing and creating more offensive content than most adults believe; many students know it is wrong but feel powerless to do the right thing in the digital space, while others struggle to understand the impact of their words. Dr. Walsh is eager to share this research with schools and families.

CURRENT RESEARCH

During the 2019-2020 academic year, Dr. Walsh’s research focused on digital hate speech. Her research involved in-depth interviews and focus groups with 6th-12th grade students and administrators. It is clear that our kids are seeing and creating more offensive content than most adults believe; many students know it is wrong but feel powerless to do the right thing in the digital space, while others struggle to understand the power of their words and language on a screen. Dr. Walsh is eager to share this research with schools and families.

All of her research is rooted in the idea that tween/teen voices should be more dominant in how we frame and judge their mediated lives.

Her work seeks to capture their words, stories, and experiences to help adults understand and develop greater empathy for what it is like to grow up in the 21st century.

In addition to her ongoing work examining whether and how social media alters the paths to adolescent development, her other projects include:

  • Collaboration with the Aloha Foundation examining the effect of tech free time at overnight camps on perceptions of social connectedness and social support.
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  • An in-depth multi-method study of the ways college admissions offices use applicants’ social media in the review process.
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  • An examination of the ways in which gender performances alter the curated presentations of self on social media. The emphasis of this research was to highlight the opportunities and challenges that are often gendered on social media.
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  • Survey and data analysis with the Division of Emerging Media at Boston University examining the ways emojis are used as visual communication in friend and romantic partnerships among college students.
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  • Project Director for a Boston College/Boston University longitudinal research study examining the relationship between high achieving girls and stress in independent schools.
TOGETHER WE CAN CLOSE THE GENERATION GAP.
TOGETHER WE CAN LEARN HOW TO EFFECTIVELY
NAVIGATE THE DIGITAL SPACE.

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