If you have concerns about kids and teens on social media or ideas for keeping them healthy and safe, now you can submit those directly to the federal government.
The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) sent out a request for public comment in late September calling for parents, educators and other interested parties to share their concerns and “best practices” around internet usage of kids and teens.
The call comes several months after the White House promised in an advisory to dedicate more resources and brainpower to two big questions: How exactly is internet access affecting young people, and what should the rest of us be doing about it?
Those actions may include policy recommendations, voluntary guidelines for tech companies and resources for parents. The goal of collecting public comments is to understand the risks internet use poses to young people and how adults can mitigate those risks.
To comment, go to the regulations.gov website, search for NTIA-2023-008 and select “comment now.”
The well-being of kids and teens online is a talking point for politicians on both sides of the aisle. But lawmakers have been slow to rally around a set of demands and tech companies have lobbied hard against state and federal measures requiring safety and privacy guardrails for young people online. In May, the U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory linking social media use to poor mental health.
So far, research into the effects of internet use on mental health for kids and teens paints a conflicting picture. On one hand, the internet gives young people access to friends, information and skills that can bolster their mental health. On the other hand, problems like online bullying, social comparison and predation leave some kids, especially vulnerable ones, open to hardship and trauma.
Katharina Kopp, deputy director of the digital rights advocacy group Center for Digital Democracy, said, “Voluntary industry guidelines will not shield young people from the serious harms caused by social media.”
Another potential stumbling block is the scope and complexity of the problem. Asking after the health of kids and teens on social media is too broad a question, said Jordan Shapiro, an associate professor at Temple University and author of “The New Childhood,” a book about parenting in the digital age.
“The same things that make [internet use] great for some kids are the things that take other kids right down the rabbit hole,” Shapiro said.
Open conversations like the one NTIA is initiating are helpful and necessary, Shapiro said. Parents who want to contribute a comment should first talk to kids about both the positives and negatives of social media to get a fuller picture of how it affects them, he said.
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