Parents, educators, and researchers, the federal government needs your input! 

The internet has brought a world of information and experiences to the palm of our hands. The omnipresence of technology, especially social media, has also caused children to become significantly more exposed to exploitation, bullying, and inappropriate material. As we learned at Eagle Council 51 from Kristyn Ruzicka and Melanie Hempe, there are real dangers to our kids from the metaverse and even gaming addictions. From 2009 to 2019, depression rates doubled among minors with suicide becoming the second leading cause of death for children ten to fourteen years old. Something needs to change. 

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has created the Task Force on Kids Online Health and Safety and is seeking information from the public as concerns and suggestions for action. To adequately mitigate the harm of social media, they have asked parents, teachers, law enforcement, researchers, medical professionals, and more to share their expertise on this topic. 

Specifically, NTIA is looking for input into four areas: 

• identification of the health, safety, and privacy risks and benefits for minors from the use of online platforms and services; 
• information on the status of industry efforts and technology; 
• practical solutions to the specific identified issues, and 
• guidance to parents, guardians, and caregivers that is based upon rigorous evaluation and is effective in specific, articulated ways. 

They list more detailed questions near the end of their Request for Comment document here. Our friends at the National Center On Sexual Exploitation have information on Online Safety here. Melanie Hempe’s Screen Strong website can be found here. The American Association of Pediatricians has an excellent article on the topic here.

We ask that you provide your comments to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration regarding the Initiative to Protect Youth Mental Health, Safety, and Privacy Online by November 16th. You can comment by clicking here to go directly to the form and type your comment or attach a document with your comment.