This bill is extremely important for the sake of our children, teens, young adults and all families. As a teacher and presenter for the past 46 years; this is currently one of the most important and critical topics that I have been asked to speak about in classrooms, faith based organizations, community conversations. There are no stop signs, guard rails or seatbelts on the digital highway. We have babies that are showing signs of expressive developmental delays because they only stare at I pads or their caregivers cell phones and are not receiving what is called serve and return from a human being. We have allowed children to have smartphones so that when they come into school at 5 years old they know how to use their pointer finger to scroll on a phone but they do not know how to hold a pencil to learn to write their name on a paper. The importance of making sure all students and families know all of the dangers of smartphones or any cell phone too early is paramount. Whole family to even 3 generational teaching of the developing brain, what dopamine is including anticipatory dopamine, addiction to screens, why screens in bedrooms are now being associated with increase of child and teen suicide rates is paramount. Smartphone and social media access is a parent/caregiver problem with a child/teen consequence. Education and prevention from daycare through high school is needed. Giving new parents information on what screens can do to babies is also needed before leaving the hospital to go home. Let me know if I can assist in any way. Thank you, Nancy Hans 540/353-5682

I am a teacher at Chesapeake Public Schools. For the past several years, I have been holding workshops and teaching a curriculum to my middle school students devoted to explaining how toxic screen time (social media and video games) is negatively altering brain development in children. Twenty years ago we did not have the research or the science. But now we do. In the 25 years I have been in the classroom, I have witnessed a huge decline in students attention span, critical thinking skills and ability to remain calm in even the most peaceful settings. It is as though students are wired to be constantly stimulated. As a teacher it is exhausting! There is no way I can create a lesson stimulating enough to compete with TikTok, YouTube shorts, or Fortnite. The curriculum I have introduced at workshops and in my classroom has been well received in the community. Once parents and students understand the science behind screen addition, they are much more willing to take proactive steps to rectify the situation. Once they understand that the APPS they use are purposely designed to be addictive, they take the power into their own hands. Screen addiction is an epidemic that must be addressed in the classroom to save the future of our children. Their brains are being hijacked by big tech.

Research has shown that screen time is addictive. Tech companies deliberately employ strategies to create dopamine hits and drive users to want to user these apps longer. Additional research shows that long periods of time spent using social media leads to cognitive decline and children are more susceptible to this.