Legislation proposed to protect kids’ mental health online

This story mentions suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can call or text 988. For more resources, click here.

WASHINGTON — Ronan Rataj, a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, got his first phone in fifth grade before a school trip to Washington, D.C.

“My parents wanted to be able to call me just in case, because it was my first time traveling without them,” Rataj said.

Rataj is now 20-years-old and interning in Washington this fall. He recently went to an appearance by Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Janesville, who has proposed legislation to address mental health issues that can arise in children who use social media.

“I think just having the perspective of being secure in yourself and understanding that social media is people posting their highlights — it’s not actually what people’s lives are like — is important,” he said. “I do think there’s no supplement for talking to people, though.”

Steil’s bill would direct the federal Center on Mental Health Services to develop and distribute a national strategy to address the effects of social media on children’s mental health. He introduced similar legislation in 2023, but the bill failed to get enough support to be passed into law.

“The United States doesn’t have a comprehensive government approach to address children’s mental health as it relates to social media, and so what my legislation does is pulls us together nationally — have one comprehensive approach to this, rather than a piecemeal approach,” Steil said. “There is a major mental health crisis playing out in this country that I believe is directly tied to children’s exposure to social media.” 

According to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 75% of students reported frequent social media use, which the students associated with bullying, sadness and suicide risk.

“We’re working thoughtfully and productively to address the challenge that we all know exists,” Steil said. 

Carol Vidal, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University, said because there’s already evidence showing a link between social media and declining mental health, federal legislation to address this problem could have a huge impact.

“I welcome the bill to look into more research, for sure, and I also hope that there’s more actual regulation on the platforms,” Vidal said. “But just talking about it, I think it’s a positive… Politicians are hearing from their constituents who are concerned from both sides of the aisle.”

She said potential regulations to protect children could include imposing minimum age requirements for social media use, changing the algorithms that direct specific online content to users and limiting the ability of minors to “like” each other’s posts. 

“The social media companies are not doing a good job of self regulating, and their goal is to have as many people and as much time as possible engage with the platforms, because that’s how they make profit, right?” Vidal said.

Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, said he hasn’t seen the exact bill but “taking off one sharp edge of many doesn’t solve the problem of health care.” He noted that Steil voted for President Donald Trump’s signature policy legislation, which cut funding to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the federally-funded programs for health care and nutrition assistance.

“I think what would be helpful, if Congressman Steil would quit voting against his constituents and cutting things like Medicaid and the tax credits for people in the Affordable Care Act and other things that take away health care, and then also taking away food from hungry kids, are all far more significant than I think whatever proposal he may have,” Pocan said.  

The health care cuts are one of the issues behind a potential government shutdown at midnight Tuesday. Democrats want Republicans to renew Obamacare subsidies that are expiring at the end of the year, but so far, the GOP hasn’t budged.

Follow Charlotte Scott on X.