Limiting Electronic Usage For Children 10 And Under

 

This bill was written to limit the use of electronic devices for children 10 and under, minimizing screen addiction and

positively impacting the social and emotional growth and development of children.

 

Electronic devices can be very addictive for children. Childhood is a very defining and important part of someone’s

life, where a child’s social-emotional health and well-being are essential to their growth. Excessive screen time and

electronics use have proven negative impacts on a person, particularly on younger children. If a child’s screen time

usage is not limited, their growth and development can be severely altered and limited. Children need to talk to other

people in person, be active, exercise, develop relationships with the right people, and be educated in person.

Essentially, time spent on a device as a child can easily replace time growing and developing life skills. This bill

will encourage parents to limit their children’s screen time through a partnership with tech companies and an incentives

program for their consumers.

 

Electronic device - interactive device with a screen and applications such as messaging, social media, and games.

Examples include tablets, phones, and computers. Does not include headphones, keyboards, speakers, and other electronics

without screens.

Children - children 0-10 years old. This age range was chosen because this is when children are in elementary school,

where social, physical, mental, and educational growth begins at a larger scale and can define their later life.

Excessive screen time is also a problem for older children, but if screen time is limited during the chosen age range,

excessive screen time usage later in life can be prevented too.

Screen time - time spent using an electronic device

Education - the act of learning. In this case, children 10 and under go to elementary school to learn about the world

and subjects they will use later in life, so this is very important for them.

Social-emotional well-being/health - a state of well-being relating to the body, mind/emotions, and the ability to

connect with others. Children grow taller, develop muscles, bones and other parts of their body, their brains develop

certain parts that control certain things (e.g the frontal lobe controlling decision making, problem solving, and

voluntary movement), and they also require adequate quantity and quality of relationships with others in order to meet

their need for meaningful connection and to develop communication skills.

Growth/development - the act of increasing and getting larger. Children grow, whether growing taller, developing social

skills, or developing their brain.

Social media app - Apps where people can create content for other people to interact with virtually, socially connect

with, and share.

Technological company/corporation - company that focuses primarily on the manufacturing, development, support, research,

and marketing of technology-intensive products and services.

Consumer - someone who obtains products and services through a transaction for personal needs or wants.

 

This bill would have the government reward tech corporations with tax write-offs, lowered profit loss, and other

financial assistance. This funding would come from the surplus within the budgets of the Minnesota Department of Health

and the Department of Commerce.

 

This bill would not punish individual families or children for screen time, but rather partner with tech companies to

create initiatives and policies to minimize electronic usage by children, rewarding those companies for their users who

follow it. It depends on the technology company, but if parents set up their children’s screen time limits and they do

not disable them for a certain period of time, the company will reward the buyer by providing discounts and deals. When

the buyer purchases the device, they will fill out a form on it. This form will include a question asking if the

intended user is 0-10 years old. If the intended user meets that requirement, the form will provide a question asking

how old the child is and the recommended screen time plan for that age, and tell the parent the possible benefits for

following the plan. The companies’ plan must limit usage to at least under 45 minutes and restrict social media apps.

Parents must submit a request to allow these apps and state their reason. There are no penalties for not following this

bill.

 

 

This bill goes into effect on March 10th, 2025. This will give the government time to set up deals with corporations

that produce electronic devices and give those corporations opportunity to develop screen time plans and consumer deals.