INDIANAPOLIS — A bill at the Indiana State Senate could place age limits on social media use.
“Is (social media) creating a lot of the mental health issues we are seeing with our kids? I believe it is,” explained District 8 State Senator, and author of Senate Bill 11, Mike Bohacek.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 77% of high school students report using social media several times a day.
Per Senate Bill 11, “(The bill) requires a social media operator to restrict a minor user's access to social media without first obtaining verifiable parental consent for the minor user. Defines a 'minor user' as an individual who is less than 16 years of age.”
During Wednesday's session, Bohacek reassured the Senate Judiciary Committee that parents can choose to have their adolescent children back on social platforms.
"If you feel your child is mature enough and you feel like you supervise them enough, then you simply give them access to do that,” Bohacek said.
Johan Bollen is a professor of informatics and cognitive science at Indiana University.
He is currently studying the effects of media on mental health.
“I think it's really difficult to understand the degree to which social media has got a hold on our social lives, our culture, and even our politics,” Bollen said.
Bollen says social media usage should be limited no matter how old the user is.
“I don't think there's a hard sort of line that you can draw, but it's like 16 or 14 years old, (I) think it would be wise to limit social media use to the greatest degree possible," Bollen said.
If passed, the bill will go into effect in July.
