Bigorexia, Betting, and Bros: Helping Boys Navigate Today’s World
An extraordinary panel recorded live at the Common Sense Media Summit
Hi Readers,
After supporting two high schoolers who joined Richard V Reeves in conversation onstage there in 2025, I was thrilled to be invited to be onstage myself as part of the 2026 Common Sense Media Summit on Kids and Families in San Francisco.
Today I’m glad to be able to share a video of the panel I moderated, “Doing Better For Boys.” Panelists Ashanti Branch, Jason Nagata, and Michael Robb joined me to discuss the challenges boys face trying to form their own identities while encountering some very potent cultural forces, online and off.
We had a candid conversation about what boys experience day-to-day, how they’re being affected, and what we can do to help them. It was a joy to be in conversation with a panel of deep, reflective thinkers in front of a lively, engaged audience, and it generated a lot of subsequent discussions.
I was especially happy to see reactions like this one from Graciela Barrett:
The full video is below - I hope you get chance to check it out! I’d love to know what you think.
Big love,
Christopher
Doing Better For Boys
Ashanti Branch is the Founder & Executive Director of The Ever Forward Club, the author of Diary of a Confused Educator, and the driving force behind the Million Mask Movement. His group facilitates Young Men’s Health Groups to San Francisco public schools.
Jason Nagata is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at the University of California San Francisco. He is an expert in eating disorders, particularly in boys and men, and has published over 400 articles in academic journals.
Michael Robb is the Head of Research at Common Sense Media. His team has recently published two research studies related to this panel’s topic: Boys In The Digital Wild, which focuses on boys’ online lives, and Betting On Boys, which focuses on gambling.
Christopher Pepper (moderator) is a Teacher on Special Assignment in SFUSD, and the co-author of Talk To Your Boys: 16 Conversations to Help Tweens and Teens Grow into Confident, Caring Young Men.
SPRING SALE!
Get full access to every issue of Teen Health Today, plus our
full archives, for only $3.50 a month.
Another Highlight From The Summit
In this special episode of “Ask Lisa,” recorded live onstage at the Common Sense Media Summit on Kids and Families, clinical psychologist Lisa Damour, PhD sits down with Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, award-winning physician, researcher, and California’s inaugural Surgeon General, for a conversation that may change how you think about your kid and their devices.
Together, they bring decades of clinical expertise and hard-won parenting experience to the questions families are struggling with most right now around tech and their kids. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the digital world your kid is growing up in, this conversation will leave you feeling more grounded, more equipped, and even closer to your teen.
Watch ALL The Common Sense Presentations
Common Sense Media put together a terrific playlist of all of the presentations from the Summit, including all of these speakers:
Jennifer Klein, Chair, Clinton Policy Institute
Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson, President & CEO, Children's Defense Fund
Jim Steyer, Founder and CEO, Common Sense Media
Jahnavi Rao, President and Founder, New Voters
Nicholas Kristof, Columnist, New York Times
AG Rob Bonta, Attorney General, California Department of Justice
Raúl Torrez , Attorney General of New Mexico, NM Department of Justice
Dylan Byers, Founding Partner, Puck
Dr. Jenny Radesky, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Michigan Medical School
Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, Chief Impact Officer, ACE Resource Network
Dr. Luke Shaefer, Chief Executive of Health, Human Services, and Poverty Solutions, City of Detroit
Yash Maheshwari, Junior, Mountain View High School
Sophia Zhang, Senior, Mountain View High School
Merve Lapus, Vice President of Education Outreach & Engagement, Common Sense Media
Lisa Damour, PhD, President, Untangled Media Group
Dr. Aliza Pressman, Developmental Psychologist, Raising Good Humans
Gary Knell, Board Member, Common Sense Media
Jessica Rosenworcel, Executive Director, MIT Media Lab
Sal Khan, Founder & CEO, Khan Academy
Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
Laurene Powell Jobs, Founder and President, Emerson Collective
Richard Buery, CEO, Robin Hood Foundation
John White, CEO, Great Minds
Russlynn Ali, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, XQ Institute
Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, Former U.S. Secretary of State
JB Pritzker, Governor of Illinois
Michael D. Tubbs, Founder, End Poverty in California (EPIC); Former Mayor, Stockton
Allison Mishkin, Youth Policy Lead, OpenAI
Robbie Torney, Head of Digital and AI Assessments, Common Sense Media
Dr. Nina Vasan, Founder, Brainstorm: The Stanford Lab for Mental Health Innovation
Rebecca Ruiz, Senior Reporter, Mashable
Leah Defenbaugh, Director, Youth Development Projects, Minneapolis Youth Coordinating Board
Heldana Thomas, National Youth Council Leader, UNICEF USA
Xavier Juarez, National Youth Council Leader, UNICEF USA
Darla Silva, Chief Program Officer, UNICEF USA
Aisley Jett, Social Media Influencer
Dr. Scott Kollins, Chief Medical Officer, Aura
Chris Devers, CEO, Rancho Cielo
Mirel Mejia, Deputy Director, John Muir Charter Schools / Rancho Cielo Youth Campus
Terry Poole, After-School Program Manager & Counselor, Rancho Cielo
Darrell Steinberg, Former Mayor and Senate Pro Tem, Steinberg Consulting LLC
Eisha Buch, Head of Teaching and Learning, Common Sense Media
Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, State Assemblymember, CA State Legislature
Samuel Chapman, CEO, Parent Collective Inc.
Tim Levy, Managing Director and CEO, Qoria
Kristin Lewis, Chief Product Officer, Aura
Edda Collins Coleman, Vice President, Communications, Common Sense Media
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, Former Speaker of the House of Representatives
Kristen Soltis Anderson, Founding Partner, Echelon Insights
Celinda Lake, President, Lake Research Partners
John Della Volpe, CEO, SocialSphere Inc.
Bill Ready, CEO, Pinterest
Baroness Beeban Kidron, Crossbench Peer, House of Lords, UK Parliament
Recent Teen Health Today Highlights
“I’m A 15-Year-Old Girl, And My Social Media Feed Is Full Of Vile Misogyny”
A look at what girls are really seeing online. PLUS: What adults need to know about BuzzBallz, the declining birth rate, and what teens are really doing with those AI chatbots.
Is This Tech’s Big Tobacco Moment?
Instagram and YouTube Go On Trial For Harming Youth
What to do after watching “Louis Theroux: Inside The Manosphere”
Look at that line-up! What an extraordinary panel. Excellent work, Christopher!