Strengthen Parental Rights Through Parental Consent
by Linda Schauer, Concerned Women of America
It’s no secret that we are living in the digital age, with more at the tips of our fingers than ever before. This has had both positive and negative impacts on our society and, more importantly, our children. While children have been able to learn, create, and stay in touch with friends online, there have also been some serious concerns about their safety in the unregulated digital world.
These safety concerns have started to be raised all across the United States with parents calling on lawmakers to find a solution. Parents here in South Dakota are no different and understand the importance of finding a solution to this growing issue now.
Across the country, 95% of teens use or have access to smartphones. This has led to our nation’s youth being only a few clicks away from being exposed to graphic and non-age-appropriate material. The access to this type of material can cause children both mental and physical harm. Currently, app store owners do not hold any of the responsibility for the content that our children, and they are actively threatening lawmakers with lawsuits to kill any legislation that would require them to care about protecting children who use their devices.
Companies like Apple and Google create the devices these teens use and then regulate the app stores through which our children access online platforms. It’s only common sense that, if they are the promoters and gatekeepers for our children to get online, they take the necessary steps to help protect our children from inappropriate content. That is why Concerned Women for America of South Dakota believes it is time to enact legislation that will require age verification at the app store level.
The development would require app stores to receive parental approval prior to allowing any apps to be downloaded or purchased by children under 16 years old. Along with these precautions, parents should receive a comprehensive summary of what services will be provided so they can fully understand what their children are downloading on devices and are able to make well-informed decisions. Time after time, we have seen these app store companies deflect blame while failing to protect children. It is time we put parents in the driver’s seat and give them the tools they need to monitor and approve what their children can do online more easily.
Requiring parental consent on these platforms is already widely supported by parents on both sides of the political spectrum. A Pew Research Center poll found that 81% of U.S. adults support social media companies requiring parental consent for minors. Additionally, earlier this year the Bipartisan Policy Center, established by former South Dakota U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle, held an open dialogue discussion on social media and our youth in Sioux Falls. The bipartisan panel, which featured Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken (Republican), former Florida U.S. Congresswoman Val Demings (Democrat), and others, concluded that we need to take action to protect kids’ mental health from social media.
Both Democrats and Republicans agree that the fate of our children is on the line. We must act now. App stores are uniquely positioned to most effectively implement age verification and stop our nation’s youth from harmful and non-age-appropriate content. Adding these age verification requirements is a commonsense solution that will move the ball forward in this regard. South Dakota parents should support legislation that empowers us to do what we do best – protect our children.
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Linda Schauer is state director for Concerned Women for America of South Dakota.
Another “Conservative” hollering for government interference with Capitalism.
I am so tired of liberals like Terry who masquerade as conservatives criticizing any government protections. They completely misrepresent conservativism or are too ignorant to know the difference between it and libertarianism.
Exactly! Project 2025 will be good with the giant hand of government inserting itself and controlling every aspect of our lives. We will have freedom under control!
I am so tired of far right wing conspiracy theory nuts who masquerade as republicans criticizing anyone who disagrees with their nonsense and then calls them liberals. They completely misrepresent conservatism or are too ignorant to know the difference between it and a dictatorship. **Fixed your comment for you.
Another far right extremist group which has contributed to the demise of the Grand Old Party.
More regulation, less conservatism. The new far right Republicans. Who have gone so far right, they’re coming around to the left.
First, lets be clear who Mrs. Schauer is. You all remember the insanity in McPherson County with the Canvassing Crew election deniers? While he name won’t be found on much, if any of it, Mrs. Schauer was instrumental in leading that charge of chaos. While that group will tell you not vote early because the absentee votes are where China puts in their algorithms, or something like that, Mrs. Schauer is the person that takes all the absentee ballots to the Hutterite Colonies to ensure they vote absentee. A bit hypocritical is you as me. Her daughter Jodi Waltman, is one of McPherson Counties Election Deniers in Chief. Mrs. Waltman’s nonsensical ramblings can be found in many local newspapers. The apple doesn’t fall from the tree. To put it bluntly, if Mrs. Schauer is for something, it is likely the most extreme path possible.
Second, this entire push is much ado about nothing. My pre-teen children have iPhones. They cannot purchase anything on the App Store without either my consent or my wife’s consent. We could have chosen to let our children purchase anything they want without approval, but we’re adults, we’re the parents, and we didn’t want to set it up that way. We wanted to be able to control what our kids can and cannot download. Why in the world would we want to create legislation forcing companies to do something when the option for it is already there and available to parents. How about we let parents be parents and do what is best for their own children instead of inserting the governments hand into somewhere it doesn’t belong.
I frequently encounter the question “are you over 18 years of age?” on my phone. Click yes or no.
Problem solved!!
Wouldn’t it be easier to tell them that if they open inappropriate apps, their phones will explode and kill them?
If the power of Social Networks was directed toward education and we ditch LED monitors for e-ink monitors, things change overnight. In the meantime, we chronicled our 19 year home school experience in a book called “This is not a School by John Dale” (good search terms to find it) wherein we share our lessons learned. The book documents how we approached education for our three kids, which was not centered around The Internet. We tried our best to use it as a resource sparingly, but found that the most profitable educational activities had nothing to do with computers directly (walking, talking, art, listening to music, among other things). I hope you’ll read the book. It’s a game changing information for US education. Sincerely, John Dale, MS MIS/Entrepreneurship and Jessica Dale, Bachelor of Architecture
John Dale it looks like the Doeden crowd you are trying to also grift told you to move out of South Dakota where you will be happier. Back to California or Oregon? Live in a Yurt?
Still allowing John Dale to grift and pimp his wares on the website, I see. Always trying to hustle the gullible, John.
Sorry.. missed that before someone responded.
What happened to the party of personal responsibility? Try good parenting. Don’t buy your young kids a phone with wide open access to apps in the first place!
*sniff* It does my heart good knowing there are a few government minimalists still out there with me.
This new MAGA party will take our kids from us and raise them through government. That’s how they will solve the childcare crisis!