To elicit the behavior-change behind the wheel that is needed to meaningfully combat distracted driving, an ‘evolution of social norms is important, and I think young people can help lead the way on that.’

While the problem of distracted driving is one that’s immune to easy fixes, there are a host of ideas for how to reduce this deadly behaviour and minimize the harm it causes, everything from more punitive enforcement to rethinking how we build cars and roadways. Dr. Jay Winsten, whose public-health project at Harvard University aims to combat distracted driving, believes it will take a combination of both technological intervention and a generational shift in behaviour to get it under control … Continue reading

eCigarette vaping and the new streams of influence in mass media ripe for a ‘renewed effort to enlist the entertainment industry’s help’

September-October 2019 — Harvard Magazine: “For tobacco companies, the young represent the next generation of smokers. Public-health advocates like Barry Bloom and Jay Winsten, on the other hand, know that attitudes shaped as early as elementary school will ultimately affect how many youngsters will die prematurely from smoking, the leading cause of preventable death in the United States…Now Bloom…together with Winsten…are raising the alarm over a disturbing confluence of new enticements to smoking that target the nation’s most vulnerable cohort. The latest contests are being waged in movies and video games, on social media, and even … Continue reading