Experts say excessive screen time and social media use can be an issue for anyone, but it’s even more concerning among children, especially at school. This year, lawmakers and educators in Connecticut have been implementing policies and legislation to regulate technology for children.
A statewide privacy law went into effect on Oct. 1, limiting what data social media companies and other online entities can gather on minors. The law also prohibits social media companies from using addictive design features to increase a minor’s platform use. Connecticut is one of eight states in the country that now have laws protecting children’s data and privacy.
“We’re very fortunate in the fact that the state of Connecticut has the strongest data privacy laws for children,” Connecticut Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff said. “We’ve worked on data privacy for a number of years because it is so important, and there are no real guardrails for social media companies when it comes to children’s data and children’s privacy.”
He said that if social media companies do not comply with the new law, the attorney general could sue them, resulting in a trial or fines.
“But I hope that they would be partners with us, the state and I hope they would be partners with parents as well and that they understand the rationale as to why we're doing this,” Duff said.
More direct changes to regulate technology have been made in school districts. In August, the Connecticut Board of Education outlined policy guidelines to restrict cell phone usage. The guidelines were based in part on the United States Surgeon General’s 2023 Advisory on Social Media and Youth Mental Health, which highlighted the harmful impact of social media on children’s mental health and brain development.
“I feel like the content that I see nowadays is much more -- stupid, degenerate, almost,” said thirteen-year-old Omar Mushtaq, a Barnard Environmental and Technology School student in New Haven. “It's super weird random things. It's almost made me feel less smart- dumber almost- watching the insane stupid stuff that people post online.”
Barnard was one of the first schools to implement a cell phone ban. During the school day, students lock their phones in a magnetic pouch.
“My first year here at Barnard as a principal, I saw that students were highly engaged in their phones in the cafeteria, the hallways, the classrooms when I did classroom observations,” Principal Stephanie Skiba said. “When I would sit and build relationships with students, they were often showing me TikToks and different things they were doing on social media without a whole lot of depth. And one student in particular at dismissal had shown me 30 TikToks she had done that day, so I asked myself when is the learning happening?”
Many students at Barnard agree that the cell phone-free pilot program has been beneficial.
“It was a big commitment, especially to me, because I used to be addicted to my phone, but now it’s gotten better. And it lowers screen time, and it helps me focus more on my work,” eighth grader Nathaly Ynoa Martinez said.
“I’m kinda happy that I don’t get to use my phone during the day because my grades got better ever since then,” thirteen-year-old Owen Agba said.
Mushtaq said he has felt more connected to his peers and that boundaries with technology are good.
About half of the school districts in Connecticut have adopted some kind of cell phone-free policy since the board’s announcement, according to Fran Rabinowitz, executive director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents.
New Haven’s school district plans to make every public elementary, middle, and high school cell phone-free by the end of 2025.
