Members of the General Assembly are debating what kind of restrictions they want to put on social media for children.
Children who are 16 and younger would be limited to one hour for each social media app. That's an approach crafted by Senator Schuyler VanValkenburg, a Democrat from Henrico.
"One of the reasons why kids end up being on their phones so much is that they’re endlessly scrolling on an app," VanValkenburg explains. "And this is a first attempt – it's not going to be a final attempt – but it's a first good, substantive attempt to create a default setting that doesn't encourage them to be on their phones endlessly."
His legislation allows parents to tweak the default of one hour to more or less time depending on what they want. Senator David Suetterlein is a Republican from Roanoke County who worries kids will just move from one device to another.
"One of the concerns that you see often in the legislature – a little is done that's not very effective and then opponents say, ‘Well, something’s already been done; we need time to see that work,’ when, in fact, they know it's not going to change anything," says Suetterlein.
VanValkenburg's bill has already passed the Senate and a House committee, which means it'll be up for a vote in the House this week.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
