Informed Opinions: Participating in a Deliberative Democracy Lab

Written by Mila K. ’26

On October 25, Marlborough Upper School students had the opportunity to participate in Stanford's Deliberative Democracy Lab. The deliberation’s purpose was to provide students with multiple perspectives on social media policy issues, educating them throughout the lab, and ideally providing each high schooler with their own carefully considered opinions. Students from across the country joined small breakout rooms on Zoom to discuss policy proposals on issues impacting the social media landscape. 

Following ASM speaker Dr. Alice Siu’s visit on October 8, Mr. Allen—Marlborough’s Director of Studies—and Dr. Beeman—Dean of Students and History Instructor—reached out to Upper School students with the opportunity to participate in one of these labs. Originally, my interest in participating came from Dr. Siu’s engaging ASM, as she stressed the importance of conversation among youth on public policy, especially surrounding different perspectives (something I feel I am not often surrounded by). Dr. Siu presented students with an example of a deliberation conducted in Washington, D.C. on democratic discourse for high school seniors. The short video demonstrated the importance of deliberation as a crucial component of democracy and issue-solving. The video presented these seniors before, during, and after the deliberation, as they not only shared their opinions on political policies, but also their changing mindset on certain issues. 

Prior to participating in the lab, students who signed up received emails providing context about social media policies in the United States. The information included statistics on social media's effect on young adults like, “average hours spent on social media for teens,” “mental health affects for teens on social media,” and “context to how online safety is regulated in the United States”. The assigned reading also provided the eight questions we would be discussing in the Zoom rooms. 

The day of, as I sat down in Mr. Allen’s room, I initially felt some stress, considering I was unsure what the next two hours would look like. My assigned breakout room consisted of students around the country in 10th, 11th, and 12th grades, as well as another Marlborough student. However, when we began introducing ourselves, our grade level, and where we are from, every student participating seemed interested in the discourse eliminating my worries. The deliberation’s main question asked, “What, if anything, should governments do to enhance online safety for young people?” As we went through each question, we answered providing examples, and often tried to find counterarguments to certain policies. 

Each question asked our opinions on proposed social media policies, and we were tasked with either agreeing, disagreeing, or offering new suggestions. Issues like bans on social media, limiting what data social media companies can collect from minors, implementing social media shutdowns during the night, requiring social media platforms to verify users age, and many others were discussed. 

My breakout room almost always took the same stance on each issue, but I still learned why each student believed in their respective position. One perspective that I found interesting was the idea that verifying IDs could cause issues for either adults without IDs, or teenagers who can’t access identification, like a birth certificate. Another topic brought up was the issue that bans and restrictions on social media don't comply with the importance our democracy places on free speech and free-market capitalism that opposes government interference. A contributing perspective I mentioned was Australia’s recently implemented ban on social media for citizens under 16 as an example of a democratic country’s government that interfered with young people’s use of social media.

I really enjoyed participating in the deliberation as I gained knowledge on social media policies and appreciated hearing perspectives from other students and educated adults from around the country. Overall, the deliberation was a great opportunity for young adults around the world to understand the importance of discourse on various topics, whether that be political, cultural, or economic issues. 

After participating in the Deliberative Democracy Lab, I have a new-found appreciation for Marlborough’s commitment to providing students with opportunities to get involved in our country's political and social landscape. Because of this experience, I have an informed opinion on social media, and possible policies implemented to protect teen health on such platforms.