Schools, limit toxic social media for kids in school before this federal bill hits you | Opinion

Sen. Ted Cruz doesn’t think kids should have unfettered access to social media apps while in school. He’s proposed legislation, “The Eyes on the Board Act,” which would limit children’s access to the sites by requiring schools that receive federal broadband funding to cut off access on networks and devices they subsidize. This is a good start, but schools really shouldn’t be waiting for a guy like Cruz to force them to ban kids’ social media use or else.

The bill would also require the districts to set screen time policies and guidelines in place for students limiting how much students are assigned to use electronics as part of their schoolwork.

The Texas Republican’s legislation is a good inroad into a growing problem that few don’t take seriously enough, least of all the kids. More studies show that kids use social media at an alarmingly high pace and that spending several hours on social media a day fails to provide a net gain. In fact, almost everything we learn suggests kids are easily addicted to social media, distracted by it in school when they should be learning and, at home, when they should be doing homework or connecting with family and friends. They’re too online to see that social media makes them depressed, lonely, and anxious.

Experts say over three hours of social media use is the threshold for negative effects, but a Gallup survey suggests the average teen spends up to almost 5 hours per day on social media apps and even more time on screens in general. The National Institutes of Health said that when adolescents use social media a lot, it’s “associated with poor sleep quality, anxiety, depression and low self-esteem.”

Cruz’s attempt to leverage internet connectivity subsidies with social media use is smart, but honestly, it’s sad this piece of legislation even exists. Presumably school districts — places of learning — can read all the surveys, research and studies for themselves. They can see, firsthand, the effects of prolonged social media use for adolescents.

All school administrators would have to do to curb rampant social media use among kids is institute a schoolwide policy that demands kids have limited to no access to their phones during school hours or can only use them during class for assignments. Emergencies are the only exceptions. After school hours, when kids need to get in touch with parents, is fine, too.

Many Texas schools already have such a policy, and it’s a win-win for all involved: Teachers no longer have to spend precious class time telling kids to pay attention or put their phones away, putting them at an unfair advantage with a highly addictive device. Students come to school knowing the expectations, do better in classes and spend valuable time being social and learning in-person skills. These have been dwindling with the rise of social media use among kids.

Social media, like online porn, has become ubiquitous and almost as addictive. YouTube, kids’ No. 1 choice for social media apps, has almost 2.6 billion active users a month in 100 countries. Then, there’s Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok and more.

Sometimes, when something is this powerful, it feels like parents, school administrators — and even kids — are powerless. But school administrators, teachers and parents can implement steps and guidelines to help kids learn to make better decision for themselves about their own social media use.

Kudos to Cruz and his co-authors for a smart bill addressing a growing problem for kids. It’s too bad school administrators may finally take this seriously when it’s used as leverage against internet funding. There’s nothing stopping schools from implementing social media bans and screen time limits right now.

Nicole Russell is a columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.