Madam Chair and Members of the Committee: My name is Amy Stevens. I am a wife and mother, a resident of York County, raised in Hampton Roads. Thank you to the Patron for his leadership on this issue. I would like to register my support for Senate Bill 245. In The Anxious Generation, Dr. Jonathan Haidt suggests four foundational reforms. The first two are: 1) No smartphones before high school 2) No social media before age 16 Schools, coaches, and volunteers unintentionally normalize social media when they rely on them for communication for activities. No child should feel compelled to have a smart phone or a social media app because their school or any school related extracurricular activity requires it. The financial cost to this bill to Virginians is low and the long term benefits for the youth of the commonwealth are high. Please support Senate Bill 245. Thank you.

Support for SB245 SB245 provides a simple but critical safeguard: social media cannot be the sole method of communication between school personnel and students in extracurricular activities. This promotes transparency, ensures parental awareness, and helps prevent inappropriate one-on-one contact. Virginia has seen multiple cases where coaches and school employees were arrested after using private messaging and social media to engage in inappropriate communications with students incuding right here in Fauquier County, These cases highlight the risks of unmonitored digital communication and the need for clear boundaries. Transparency protects students. SB245 sets the guardrails needed in today’s digital world.