New Florida Bill Takes Aim at Social Media in Education

Social media company logos.Photo byAlexander ShatovonUnsplash

Parents who are increasingly concerned about the role of social media and modern communication play in students' lives may soon have some assistance. A new bill proposed in Florida Senate (SB-52) looks to address these concerns, as well as provide guidance to educators and school systems on how to navigate our modern landscape.

The bill also represents a rare instance of bipartisan cooperation in politics, with four Republicans - State Senators Avila, Calatayud, Burgess, and Garcia - and one Democrat - Senator Osgood - co-introducing the new proposed measures on social media and learning. Specifically, the bill aims to make educational instruction on social media safety and behavior mandatory for curriculums across the state.

From the text of the bill itself:

Members of the instructional staff of the public schools, subject to the rules of the State Board of Education and the district school board, shall teach...the following: Social media safety...The Department of Education shall make social media safety instructional material available online and district school boards shall notify parents of the material’s online availability.

Social media's impact on our culture, society, and education systems has been an increasingly discussed issue in both academic, research, and parenting circles. As the communication technology has become more widely adopted and commonplace, research studies on the impacts of social media have also become more common. Their findings have often been alarming.

A study by New Curtin University found severe negative consequences for the attention spans of those who used social media often. MIT Sloan's research found a severe decline in the mental health and wellness of social media users, tied directly to the frequency of use. Studies have also shown that social media use can be directly related to depression.

Users see the carefully curated (and possibly unrealistic) lives of others on platforms and feel worse about their own life by comparison. Teens and young adults who are particularly sensitive to their image and the perceptions of others may be even more prone to these risks.

Research like that cited above has sparked a new push and outcry for more comprehensive social media and technology education in classrooms. Lobbying groups like the National Association of School Psychologists and others have long pushed for such measures. Bills like those proposed by this year's Florida Legislature appear to be in response to those demands.

A classroom.Photo byIvan AleksiconUnsplash

It remains to be seen if early attention to these potential problems in education will reduce the prevalence of negative effects. As of this writing, bill SB-52 has passed through the Florida Senate's Education Committee unanimously and is awaiting review by the Appropriations Committee. If passed, school districts would need to reevaluate their curriculums and teaching capacity to accommodate these new requests.

Those who are interested in reading the full text of the bill or tracking its progress can find it through the link provided at the very top of this article.