TOLEDO, Ohio — Ninety-five percent of children ages 13 to 17 use social media, according to a report from the U.S. Surgeon General. So, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, both Republicans, are proposing more mental health measures in the state budget to account for youths online.
One of the measures is the Social Media Parental Notification Act introduced back in February, which would require Ohio parents to give consent to children under 16 to use certain social media platforms.
"It is of national significance, and it would seem to me it would be very appropriate for the Congress to take hearings on this and for the Congress to take action," DeWine said during a press conference Monday.
It would require companies to follow three main guidelines:
- Create a method to determine whether the user is a child under the age of 16
- Obtain verifiable parental or legal guardian consent if the user is under the age of 16
- Send written confirmation of the consent to the parent or legal guardian
Also during the presser, Husted said, "We're going to get it done state by state until we force the issue to occur or hopefully the companies are going to go begging the federal government."
The Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation and the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services joined the governor's office at the press conference where they advocated for the support of parents and schools.
WTOL 11 spoke with directors for both NAMI Hancock County and Washington Local Schools who are hopeful for the act as it could start to create safer spaces for children on social media.
WLS Communications Director Katie Peters said she has noticed social media use surge immensely with students in the district over the years. However, she said there's only so much schools can do and parent involvement is key.
"While we can't really control how often or how frequently kids are on social media, we hope that the skills we are instilling in them every day will carry over into those platforms," Peters said.
Peters said those skills include critical thinking, empathy, communication and a learner's mindset, or, just knowing there are people on the other ends of your keyboard that you could be impacting.
NAMI Hancock County's Director of Youth Services, Clayton Richardson, said the measures could be a good thing because pulling teeth is easier than taking the phones of some youths he's worked with.
"What's getting passed could honestly give parents a fighting chance," Richardson said.
He said accountability on the parents' part can be a good base in order to set healthy boundaries with their children.
The act would also include gaming platforms, but will not include online shopping sites. If passed by the Ohio General Assembly and signed into law, companies would have 90 days to comply.