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BY SEN. MARSHA BLACKBURN

For parents across Tennessee, the first weeks of August mean one thing: the start of the new school year. For many families, that means back-to-school shopping, meeting with teachers, and signing up for sports and clubs so that their children have every opportunity to succeed.

But tragically, as students spend more and more time glued to their screens, they are facing more obstacles than ever to achieving academic success. With the rise of addictive algorithms and infinite scrolling on social media, teenagers are spending an average 8.5 hours a day on their phone screens—the equivalent of a full work week. Children as young as 8 years old, meanwhile, are on average spending 5.5 hours a day online.

This level of addiction has had a devastating impact on children’s well-being, with the rate of major depressive disorder almost doubling among young Americans between 2009 and 2019.

At the same time children have become addicted to social media, Big Tech platforms have exposed them to unthinkable harms, including sex trafficking and abuse, lethal drugs such as fentanyl, pro-suicide and eating disorder content, and so much more.

Thankfully, after years of refusing to take action to address these harms, Big Tech is finally facing accountability.

In May, the bipartisan REPORT Act, which I led alongside Senator Ossoff (D-Ga.), was signed into law. Among its many important provisions, this legislation will require Big Tech platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram to report crimes on their platforms involving the sex trafficking, grooming, or enticement of children to National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Late last month, the Senate also passed the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), which I led with Senator Blumenthal (D-Conn.), which would require social media platforms to provide an experience that is safe for children by default. KOSA accomplishes this by creating a duty of care for online platforms to prevent specific dangers to minors, including the promotion of suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, and sexual exploitation.

While Congress is taking action to hold Big Tech accountable, we know that parents are essential to keeping children safe online. That’s why, as Tennessee’s nearly 1 million K-12 students head back to the classroom, I’ve pulled together a Parents’ Guide to Kids Online Safety to provide tips for Tennesseans to keep their families safe in the virtual space.

As the guide notes, one of the most important things you can do is ensure your child is keeping their information private. By turning off features like “public profiles” and turning on parental controls, parents can help protect their children’s personal information. The guide also notes that children should learn to exclude any identifying information from their online profiles, including their full name, home address, or school name.

Even with strong privacy settings, however, children can still be exposed to social media harms. That’s why parents should teach their kids to beware of online dangers, including predators and drug dealers who may pose as a friend from school. As always, children should know the #1 rule of staying safe on the internet: never chat with or agree to meet people you don’t know.

Perhaps most importantly, parents should be vigilant in monitoring their children’s social media and well-being. My Kids Online Safety Guide includes links to important resources for parents on this front, including the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

As children head back to class in Tennessee, they deserve every opportunity to learn, grow, and flourish. It is my hope that the Parents’ Guide to Kids Online Safety can play at least a small part in ensuring that happens.

(Marsha Blackburn represents Tennessee in the U.S. Senate)