{"id":2445164,"date":"2025-06-10T07:29:02","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T11:29:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-texas-law-targets-mass-screen-addiction-among-kids\/"},"modified":"2025-06-10T07:31:44","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T11:31:44","slug":"new-texas-law-targets-mass-screen-addiction-among-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-texas-law-targets-mass-screen-addiction-among-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"New Texas Law Targets Mass Screen Addiction Among Kids"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnew-texas-law-targets-mass-screen-addiction-among-kids%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2445164&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed a new law requiring individuals under 18 to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/3-reasons-parents-are-absolutely-right-to-demand-informed-consent-to-what-schools-do-to-their-kids\/\" title=\"3 Reasons ... Are Absolutely Right To Demand Informed Consent To What ...s Do To Their Kids\">obtain parental consent<\/a> before downloading apps or making in-app purchases. This legislation aims to empower parents by giving them more control over their children&#8217;s smartphone usage, especially in limiting access to possibly harmful adn distracting apps like Instagram and TikTok. While supporters argue this move protects children&#8217;s mental health and social development, critics contend it infringes on privacy and personal freedoms, suggesting that parents shoudl manage their children&#8217;s app usage without governmental intervention.<\/p>\n<p>Advocates for the law underscore the damaging impact of digital distractions on youth, citing issues such as screen addiction, depression, and declining cognitive abilities.As a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/florida-teacher-arrested-for-allegedly-spraying-disinfectant-at-students-who-didnt-wear-masks-properly-faces-felony-child-abuse-charges\/\" title=\"Florida teacher arrested for allegedly spraying disinfectant at ... who didn&#039;t wear masks properly, faces felony child abuse charges\">high school teacher<\/a>, the author notes a troubling trend of students struggling with these issues, often finding it challenging to focus or engage in meaningful relationships. The piece highlights the need for more stringent regulations on digital content to mitigate these risks, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >referencing ongoing discussions<\/a> at both state and federal levels about controlling access to potentially harmful online material.<\/p>\n<p>The author critiques the influence of big tech companies, noting that despite attempts by Apple CEO Tim Cook to persuade Abbott to veto the bill, the law passed, signaling a shift towards prioritizing children&#8217;s mental health over corporate interests. The discussion also calls for broader measures, such as banning smartphone use in schools, to ensure that parental controls are not undermined in educational settings. Ultimately, the author advocates for a cultural shift where digital technology is viewed as a tool rather than a source of entertainment, urging a focus on engaging with the physical world.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Texas Gov. Greg Abbot recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cz63ny02d8po\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">signed into law<\/a> a bill that would require phone users under 18 to seek &ldquo;parental approval before they can download apps or make in-app purchases.&rdquo; No longer can children and teenagers download apps like Instagram and TikTok immediately after their parents buy them a smartphone. They will need to ask their parent to present ID to approve of the download.<\/p>\n<p>For parents who bought their children such attention-hogging, soul-sucking distraction devices for ostensibly safety and studying, they now have more power to simply say no to brain rot. While some parents may be completely fine with sending their child into a deep, dark spiral of insecurity and screen addiction, most parents would prefer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/blog\/joyful-parenting\/202312\/over-half-of-parents-want-to-reduce-their-phone-use\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">limiting their children&rsquo;s phone use<\/a>, but don&rsquo;t know how. By setting up this hurdle, the task becomes much easier.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, some object this <a href=\"https:\/\/lifehacker.com\/tech\/texass-new-age-verification-law-has-serious-privacy-issues\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">invades users&rsquo; privacy and curtails their personal freedoms<\/a>. These are usually the people who insist that parents are on their own at policing their children&rsquo;s exposure to corrupting influences. After all, parents can change the settings on the phone, or they can just forego buying their children smartphones. Why bring in the government to enforce a verification system for the consumption of online content?<\/p>\n<p>Because the government has a responsibility to protect moral and mental health of the community, which means regulating products that harm people, especially children. Most people understand this principle for alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs, all physical products that must be consumed responsibly or banned outright.<\/p>\n<p>However, more confusion arises when the harmful product is digital. Only recently have state governments, and now the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/pornography-ban-us-bill-2071409\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">federal government<\/a>, begun proposing and implementing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/states-porn-age-verification-free-speech-1903108\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">laws restricting access to online pornography<\/a>. Even if people protest that this infringes on their right to easily accessible pornography, such laws are simply the online version of what is already done with offline pornography.<\/p>\n<p>In the same way, various addictive apps that impair users&rsquo; cognitive and social development cannot be the default setting on a device that most people need to operate in modern society. It doesn&rsquo;t matter that these apps are on a screen. On an individual level, they have the <a href=\"https:\/\/duesouth.media\/screen-time-dependency-like-a-drug\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">same deleterious effects as many illegal drugs<\/a>. On a societal level, they are a major contributor to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/05\/29\/opinion\/dating-marriage-children-fertility.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">crashing birthrates<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ucsf.edu\/news\/2025\/05\/430011\/yes-social-media-might-be-making-kids-depressed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">mass depression<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/norsensus.no\/smartphones-linked-to-lower-iq-norwegian-psychologist-claims\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">declining IQ<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This may sound like hyperbole, but I have seen this firsthand as a high school English teacher. Nearly all my students have smartphones, and nearly all of them struggle with some kind of screen addiction. Setting aside the massive problem of cheating, these otherwise bright and capable kids cannot focus on texts for long or delve into deeper ideas, much less appreciate the importance and purpose of thinking at a higher level.<\/p>\n<p>Worse still, they cannot socialize &mdash; which is supposed to be the <a href=\"https:\/\/teachers.institute\/education-nature-purposes\/education-socialization-cultural-social-identity\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">main selling point for formal education<\/a>. I used to worry about students being too chatty with their classmates while I was teaching. Now I welcome any inane discussion that pulls them away from the smartphone they hide under their desks.<\/p>\n<p>Unless their parents make a concerted effort to deal with the smartphone, the great majority of these kids will never come close to reaching their full potential as adults, nor will they get to enjoy meaningful relationships with the people around them. They will become incomplete human beings whose brains have been irreparably malformed through so many mindless hours on their devices.<\/p>\n<p>So yes, any law that empowers parents to have a say in the apps their children download is a great improvement. The bigger question is: Why Texas is only the second state (Utah is the first) to make such a law? Are most state legislators and governors really swayed by the arguments, or is something else happening?<\/p>\n<p>Well, Apple CEO Tim Cook <a href=\"https:\/\/catholicvote.org\/apple-ceo-urges-texas-governor-to-veto-child-safety-bill\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">visited Abbott<\/a> a few weeks ago to try to persuade him to veto the bill. Evidently, his appeals for children&rsquo;s unlimited access to apps and his likely offers of financial kickbacks and discounts on Apple products were insufficient. If anything, Cook&rsquo;s presence primarily reinforces the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theblaze.com\/return\/how-big-tech-hijacked-the-classroom?utm_source=facebook&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=dlvr.it_fb_blaze-media&amp;tpcc=social_fb-post\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">argument<\/a> that inundating young people with digital content is fueled by corporate greed, not any robust evidence that apps help them.<\/p>\n<p>Hopefully, Texas will be the first among all states to begin the much-needed process of regulating screens. The next step would be to follow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.governor.virginia.gov\/newsroom\/news-releases\/2025\/may\/name-1046981-en.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Virginia<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.governor.ny.gov\/news\/distraction-free-schools-governor-hochul-announces-new-york-become-largest-state-nation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">New York&rsquo;s<\/a> examples of prohibiting smartphones on campuses during school hours.<\/p>\n<p>While school districts across the country have tried to incorporate phones into instruction for more than a decade, they have largely become electronic sedatives that profoundly disrupt learning. And it would mean little for parents newly enabled to control how their children use a smartphone only to be undermined at school where students would easily find others to download addictive apps for them.<\/p>\n<p>More than anything else, today&rsquo;s kids need to see digital technology as helpful (yet ultimately boring) tools. Indeed, this was the plan when these devices were originally introduced. The real fun should come when people finally look up from screens and begin engaging in the physical world.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Auguste Meyrat is an English teacher in the Dallas area. He is the founding editor of <a href=\"https:\/\/everymancommentary.substack.com\/\">The Everyman<\/a>, a senior contributor to The Federalist, and has written essays for Newsweek, The American Mind, The American Conservative, Religion and Liberty, Crisis Magazine, and elsewhere. Follow him on <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/EverymanComm\">X<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/@meyrat\">Substack<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Texas now requires parental approval for app downloads by minors<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":551,"featured_media":2445165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/52192234289_618c4cea88_k.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[39329,4762,33391,56855,3694],"class_list":["post-2445164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-childrens-health","tag-legislation","tag-online-safety","tag-screen-addiction","tag-texas"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/52192234289_618c4cea88_k.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2445164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/551"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2445164"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2445164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2445168,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2445164\/revisions\/2445168"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2445165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2445164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2445164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2445164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}