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New View EDU Episode 92: Reducing Harm in a Digital World

October 12, 2026

Available October 13, 2026

Find New View EDU on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and many other podcast apps.

As technology advances at an unprecedented pace, school leaders have to make rapid decisions about how to manage the risks and opportunities. What can we learn from the history of public health prevention strategies about proactive risk management, and how can we help kids grow and develop in an increasingly digital world? Host Morva McDonald brings together two experts from disparate backgrounds to share their thoughts on AI, social media, and navigating the delicate balance between preparing kids for the future and mitigating harm.

Barry Davis_croppedLaura Tierney_croppedBarry Davis, author of The Preventioneers, and Laura Tierney, founder of The Social Institute, discuss the current landscape, what concerns them, and what excites them about developing technologies. They agree that one challenge facing schools right now is the division of responsibility for harm reduction. While students, parents, faculty, and school leaders all have varying degrees of responsibility for safe technology use, there is also a larger institutional and governmental role that lies with companies and legislators. Barry, drawing upon his expertise in public health, likens the current technology situation to road safety: individuals can and should obey the rules of the road, and municipalities should maintain safe roads and monitor driving behaviors, but car manufacturers also need to ensure their vehicles are as safe as possible to mitigate risk.

Laura also highlights the challenges of ensuring that all parties are on the same team when it comes to technology use. She encourages schools to have clear policies and communicate frequently with parents and students about their expectations and learnings. Her work with kids demonstrates that the majority of students want the adults in their lives to help them achieve a healthier balance with technology and want a voice in shaping what that looks like. Barry adds that, from a public health perspective, it’s also important to communicate what we don’t know and to be willing to act decisively even in the absence of some information. They agree that school leaders can exercise agency without full certainty when trying policies they believe will be best for student well-being.

Key Questions

Some of the key questions Morva, Barry, and Laura explore in this episode include:

  • If you could frame up a specific problem that you are seeking to solve for schools and students, what would it be? What’s the biggest challenge you see standing in the way of solving that problem currently?
  • There is often a gap between how adults see young people and how young people see themselves. What do you think educators most need to understand about students and their digital lives?
  • The dominant narrative around technology is often fear-based. Increasingly, schools are coming to terms with students’ use of technology and trying to balance guidance with responsible action. How should schools reframe their thinking about AI, social media, and technology?  
  • Parents are often navigating the same uncertainties schools face. How can schools build trust with families and get everyone on the same page?

Episode Highlights

  • “Now, there's this whole thing in prevention about personal responsibility versus societal responsibility. And I think of this, you know, many of the times this has come up and they talk about, ‘Is this social media's Big Tobacco moment?’ And I've written a lot about Big Tobacco. What happens is that there's so much that can be done from a personal level, whether it be the students or the parents or the teachers. But there's also the opposite thing where the people, the companies who make this stuff, whether it be AI or social media, they have responsibility. And the government has a responsibility to rein companies in to do things.” (5:33)
  • “You really need to create this, you know, team-oriented, I think, culture and environment where you're getting everyone on the same page. And I think that's harder to do when technology is throwing you curveball after curveball every week. But I think the, what's hopeful, I think, about this is that the same skills are required, you know, that we needed 10 years ago to navigate social media. As you see the evolution of AI happening, you need proactive communication, you need common standards, you need frequent communication to families and teachers. And so I'm hopeful that you can get alignment, but you do have to think about those three groups very thoughtfully.” (11:49)
  • “It's an incredibly fantastic algorithm, but it's not a person, and people—adults and students—get caught up in it. They think they're talking to somebody who's real. And it's not, it's just predicting patterns. And you have to take everything sort of with a grain of salt. And I think that needs to be incorporated not only for the students, but for the teachers, the parents, too, and the older adults. So there's a fear of that, but we have to learn to accept it. In fact, I wish that more people would learn what these elements of AI are, so they would know, with the input that they're putting in, what their output is, and what, realize what is happening there.” (14:29)
  • “I think having rules and standards is always a good thing for students and adults, not just the students. So I think of it as a both and—have the rules in place at a school and combine that with education, combine it with practice, because the rules are not there when the bell rings and a fourth-grader goes home on their family tablet or starts playing in a multiplayer, you know, video game with their friends. And the rules are not there. And they're left with what standards did they build with the institutions and communities that they're part of?” (24:08)

Resource List

Full Transcript

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About Our Guests

Barry R. Davis is a physician-scientist, biostatistician, and clinical trialist whose career has centered on prevention—not only as a medical strategy but as a societal responsibility. He is professor emeritus of biostatistics and data science at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, where he previously served as chair of the department and director of the coordinating center for clinical trials. He also held the Guy S. Parcel chair in public health. Based in Houston and the Texas Medical Center, his work has shaped national and international approaches to cardiovascular prevention.

Davis served as principal investigator of ALLHAT, one of the largest hypertension trials ever conducted, and was a leader in SHEP, a landmark study demonstrating the benefits of treating systolic hypertension in older adults. He also held leadership roles in the Hypertension Detection and Follow-up Program (HDFP). He contributed to the early development of the SPRINT trial and later served on its data and safety monitoring committee. In addition to directing large-scale trials, he has served on more than 150 data and safety monitoring committees and held leadership roles in national and international professional societies.

Across decades of clinical research and public health leadership, a recurring question emerged: why does prevention so often struggle to gain traction, even when the evidence is strong?

Scientific insight alone does not guarantee action. Institutional incentives, political pressures, economic resistance, and human psychology shape whether early warnings are heeded. That inquiry ultimately led to The Preventioneers: Diseases, Disasters, and the Discoveries That Changed Our World (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2026), a narrative history exploring how individuals across disciplines recognized danger early and what allowed some to succeed where others stalled.

Today, Davis writes and speaks about prevention, leadership, and the persistent gap between knowledge and action, offering perspective on how societies can respond more effectively to emerging risks before harm becomes widespread.

Laura Tierney is the founder and CEO of The Social Institute, empowering students and their role models to navigate social media and technology in positive, high-character ways. Within two years, her team’s unique gamified social media curriculum, co-created with more than 50,000 students, has been touted as the gold standard in the country. Their positive, student-led approach has been applauded by Melinda Gates and featured by The Washington Post, NPR, and USA Today.

Prior to envisioning, researching, and launching The Social Institute, Laura served as social media director at the award-winning advertising agency McKinney, overseeing social media strategy for the agency’s leading global brands. Before McKinney, Laura honed her marketing and social media skills as a social media manager at ESPN, helping espnW use social media to inspire millions of women and girls who love sports. During the 10 years she worked in social media, she helped build strategies and campaigns for leading brands including Duke men’s basketball, ESPN, Samsung, Coca-Cola, Travelocity, Oakley, and Disney. 

In 2018, Laura received the Triangle Business Journal’s 40-under-40 award, and in 2022, she was named a finalist in the EdTech Leadership Awards, which recognize leaders for outstanding contributions in transforming education through technology to enrich the lives of learners everywhere. In 2026, she was named to Inc.’s Female Founders 500 List.

Laura is an unshakable optimist and competitive athlete at heart. A graduate of Duke University, she became a four-time Duke All-American, two-time team captain, and Duke Athlete of the Decade for field hockey. She played for the U.S. Junior National Team, representing her country at home and abroad.

Today, Laura plays on behalf of students to equip them with skills and values that embody their daily digital needs. Through her work and passion, students now have the chance to win at the world’s largest game: social media.