Alabama lawmakers considering bills limiting children’s access to technology

A woman scrolling on a smartphone. (Getty)

Some Alabama lawmakers are considering legislation for the 2025 legislative session that would limit children’s access to technology.

At the most recent State Board of Education work session, State Superintendent Eric Mackey brought up potential laws around cell phone restrictions, which board members have expressed support for in the past, as well as potential age restrictions for social media.

“That’s not something we as a board can do,” he said.

Michael Sibley, spokesperson for the Alabama State Department of Education, wrote Monday that Mackey did not have much to add “except that he is reading up on both issues as much as possible.”

No bills on the topics have yet been prefiled for next year’s session, which begins in February..

Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, who chairs the House Education Policy Committee, said Tuesday that she would support legislation that restricts cell phone use in school.

“I don’t know how popular it would be, but I think it would be the right thing for education,” she said.

Collins said that she doesn’t think cell phone use is positive for kids. The representative said she restricted her kids’ phones when they were younger and her granddaughter doesn’t have a phone now. But she said she wasn’t sure the Legislature was the right avenue for restricting social media.

“I think parents need to be involved in those decisions,” she said.

There have been prior efforts to restrict technology in schools. Rep. Leigh Hulsey, R-Helena, sponsored legislation this past year that would have placed limitations on internet use of school-owned devices. The bill did not make it out of the House of Representatives.

Hulsey wrote over text Tuesday that she was not ready to comment.

Rep. Ben Robbins, R-Sylacauga, said Tuesday that he was working on legislation related to social media use.

One of the bills included an education component on how to properly use social media in school. Robbins filed a bill this past session related to social media safety in schools, but he said it was not the same bill as the one he is currently working on.

He said it was similar to a bill signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in March that imposed social media restrictions for people under 16.

Robbins said that he was working on the details with other groups, such as social media responsibility nonprofits and technology groups. 

“I’m still in conversations with stakeholders, so I don’t want to say too much, in case some things get removed, or there’s some negotiated-out parts of the bill but, in essence, the goal is to make social media safer for children, and possibly (place) a ban on children’s access and use of social media,” he said.

He said there are conversations around whether a “top down” approach to restrictions is the best avenue or whether it should be from districts. He said he thinks Yondr pouches– which students seal their phones in for the school day – have “some merit.” The pouches are magnetically sealed and opened for students at the end of the day.

The potential bills come amid a national conversation around cell phone use in schools.  Some states are moving towards banning cell phone use in schools believing that cell phones are a distraction during the school day. Some parents have expressed worry over not having a way to reach their children during the day. 

Last month, the Office of the Surgeon General released an advisory on social media and youth mental health, which included guidance about limiting social media for children and creating family tech-free zones. In a commentary published by The New York Times earlier this month, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called for warning labels on social media that would state that “social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents.”

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