Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently signed HB 3425, a new law that requires schools to notify parents of bullying within 24 hours and incorporates “physical appearance, socioeconomic status, academic status, pregnancy, parenting status and homelessness” in the definition of what constitutes bullying.
The need to stop bullying cannot be emphasized enough. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 14% of public schools report that bullying is a daily, or at least weekly, discipline problem. Reports of bullying are highest among middle schools at 28%, with high schools and elementary schools at 16% and 9%, respectively. The impact on students is devastating, often leading to feelings of isolation, rejection, exclusion, despair, depression and anxiety, even suicide.
The risk of bullying has expanded significantly with the explosion of social media use and cell phone ownership among youth. Schools can’t combat them alone.
I grew up during the 1970s, a time when there was generally one phone in the house. When we did talk with our friends, it was hard to find privacy because everyone in the house could hear all or part of the conversation. While we often lamented some of those things, we usually slept well at night without worrying about conflicts with peers or friends.
Regrettably, those days are long gone. Conflicts among youth often take place throughout the day, often outside of school hours, because of easy access to phones and thus access to social media such as Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube and Facebook. According to data from Common Sense Media, over half of American children own a smart phone by age 11, and about 20% by age 8. From ages 13 to 18, those numbers increase significantly, from 67% to 88%. Meanwhile, up to 90% of teens ages 13 to 17 use social media, often leading to cyberbullying.
It’s this overindulgence with social media that leaves many urging that parents and guardians become more proactive in monitoring their child’s phone usage. A study in 2019 of 6,500 American teens ages of 12 to 15 revealed that those who spent more than three hours a day using social media — likely via phones — might have a higher risk of developing mental health challenges. Those challenges potentially include suicide, the second leading cause of death for children 10-14 in 2021, according to the CDC.
In addition, screen time in general among youth is also up. In a study by JAMA Pediatrics, screen time among adolescents doubled during the pandemic. This meant more time talking to peers online, likely contributing to more conflicts amongst peers.
A sense of urgency: Get parents involved
The sense of urgency schools feel to help youth combat these challenges has never been higher and more pronounced. Many schools have hired additional social workers and counselors to help our youth deal with social and emotional issues. Unfortunately, what schools can do is simply not enough. We need to encourage or require parents and guardians to help with this enormous challenge. The new law goes a long way in holding schools accountable. Now it’s time to see how this can be expanded to parents and guardians to help them better regulate their child’s usage of technology.
After all, a great deal of bullying takes place outside of school. Often, the information schools receive is either incomplete or inaccurate. Ascertaining who is at fault or causing the bullying is more than challenging. Youth often share their phone numbers with dozens of students, who in turn share that same number with others. Students can engage in group chats and share photos with an unlimited number of individuals. It is this quagmire that leaves schools struggling to find the root cause of conflicts.
Putting together legislation to help parents do more in this area will help our youth tremendously. In Utah, new laws require parental permission for anyone under 18 to use social media platforms, and prohibit kids from using social media between 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m.
While the new laws are not perfect, they recognize the complexity of the issue. Illinois’ new law expresses a need we all share — to help our youth — and will hopefully spark legislation to make parents and guardians more responsible.
After all, schools can’t control who buys a cell phone or how much time a child spends on social media. A parent can.
Jerald McNair, Ph.D., is a school administrator in South Holland School District 151.
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