Many Washington kids and teens have lost months, if not years, of their precious childhoods to scrolling on Instagram and other social media.
Big Tech’s addictive algorithms have stolen their attention, bolstering the bottom line for tech companies by fueling ad revenue. And what was lost? The ingredients of a healthy childhood: sleep, exercise, in-person connection, and learning at school.
Now our state has a watershed opportunity to help young people recover from these harms and build healthier lives.
Thanks to the $17 billion settlement negotiated by attorneys general in 47 states, including Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, Washington will soon receive tens of millions of dollars, totaling at least $237 million over the next decade. AG Brown said the funds will be used, in part to cover attorney costs and fund “continued enforcement of consumer protection laws, as well as for programs that address the mental health impacts of youth social media use.”
We can put these dollars to use in smart ways to really make a difference for Washington’s youth.
This issue is close to my heart. I’m the mom of three kids. I also spent more than four years suing Meta as a consumer protection attorney with the Federal Trade Commission. After reading thousands of Mark Zuckerberg’s emails, I know firsthand how he chose profits over the well-being of kids, over and over again.
I propose Washington use its Meta settlement funds to:
- Help schools in our state implement an “Away for the Day” policy to keep phones and personal electronics stored away.
- Follow the lead of Spokane Public Schools by funding “engagement navigators” to help kids and teens find rewarding sports and other after-school activities.
- Help youth navigate a swiftly changing economy by developing concrete job skills in the trades through career and technical education programs and pre-apprenticeships.
Keep phones and electronics away at school
All across the country, red and blue states alike have reclaimed the school day for learning by requiring phones and other personal electronics be kept off and away from arrival to dismissal. Not here.
Dr. Dimitri Christakis of the University of Washington found that on average, students across the U.S. spend 23% of the school day on their phones, mostly on social media, short-form videos, and, probably increasingly, on AI. That adds up to a whopping 42 days of instructional time each school year.
I applaud both Gov. Bob Ferguson and State Superintendent Chris Reykdal, who want to change that by passing a state law to keep phones and personal electronics away for the day in Washington schools. I’m hopeful that Washington can lift its grade to an A or B from an F on the Phone-Free Schools State Report Card.
But schools will need help to make this happen. Money from the settlement could be used for phone storage systems like magnetic pouches or lockers, as well as training for school staff to institute new policies.
The Meta settlement specifically suggests using the funds for “phone-free school zones.” And there’s precedent for attorneys general in other states helping to fund these policies–the AGs in Colorado and Massachusetts have done just that.
Engagement navigators
Keeping smartphones and other devices away at school is only one part of the equation. We also need to help youth find healthy alternatives to screen use when they’re not at school. Too many kids spend hours alone at home scrolling or playing video games rather than playing sports or engaging in clubs.
The recent film, Screenagers: Generation AI, showcases an innovative program adopted by Spokane Public Schools. It’s called Engage in Real Life, and the aim is to connect more students with sports, clubs, and other after-school activities.
The “engagement navigators” within Spokane schools work with students to find their passions and sign up for extracurricular activities they might never have considered. In some cases the kids start their own. It’s shown promising results, including better attendance and academic results. The students themselves talk about engaging in face-to-face conversations with their peers as a positive outcome that changed the trajectory of social interactions in their school.
This would be a great use of the Meta dollars. The settlement specifically suggests funds be used for “after school or summer programs, such as sports, literacy, dance, and other activities.”
Career and technical education
It’s hard to predict what kind of economy today’s youth will enter. But one thing we can do right now is help more students enter apprenticeships that pay them while they learn and gain job skills to find work in high-demand fields.
Examples include ANEW’s Youth Exploration Program, which introduces youth to careers in the construction trades and offers paid summer programs, and at the Machinist Institute, there are four-week pre-apprenticeship programs for high school students. There is even a trailer that brings the program to more remote locations. Sending these programs for hands on work to reservations and rural schools would be a good use of the money. And, these kinds of programs help youth by keeping them engaged in something other than scrolling or gaming and by helping them develop valuable work skills with which to enter the job market.
We can’t recover the time that’s been lost to addictive social media platforms. But we can use this money to create experiences in real life that create a future for our kids that will allow them to thrive.
Danica Noble, former Federal Trade Commission Attorney and 32nd LD candidate
COMMENTARY DISCLAIMER: The views and comments expressed are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the Lynnwood Times nor any of its affiliates.
Author: Lynnwood Times Staff
