TikTok and Teens: Guest Column

Social Media,

Congress is considering banning the Chinese government-controlled social media platform TikTok. For some, this ban is about national security. For others, it’s about the safety and sanity of our children.  

Today, nearly half of all teens use social media “almost constantly.” Sixty-three percent of them use TikTok, making it the second most used social media platform behind YouTube. 

Some claim that banning TikTok could lead to catastrophic consequences for teens’ mental health. For many teens, according to one Twitter user, “TikTok is their identity.” In other words, they’re addicted, so losing it could lead to mental distress. 

Such an abrupt shift may certainly cause distress, but social media has long fueled anxiety and depression. As Jean Twenge has noted, teens who spend more time behind screens are at a higher risk for depression.  

Thankfully, teens are more than their online personas, likes, follows, or friends. They are embodied persons whose happiness and wholeness depend on living in the real world. Any effort to help them do that is a step in the right direction. 

Copyright 2024 by the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Reprinted from BreakPoint.org with permission.

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Hillary Clinton Endorses Arkansas Abortion Amendment

Abortion,

Last week former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton endorsed a proposal to write abortion into the Arkansas Constitution.

Arkansans for Limited Government is working to place the Arkansas Abortion Amendment on the November ballot.

The measure would write abortion into the state constitution, and it would prevent the Arkansas Legislature from restricting abortion during the first five months of pregnancy — allowing thousands of elective abortions every year and paving the way for taxpayer-funded abortions in Arkansas.

On Friday Hillary Clinton issued statements on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook asking people to support the Arkansas Abortion Amendment. Clinton’s statement said,

People everywhere deserve the ability to make deeply personal decisions about their health for themselves.

Today, you can help women in Arkansas exercise their reproductive rights by supporting the Arkansas Abortion Amendment.

Join me in standing with them.

Clinton’s endorsement comes as opposition to the amendment continues to swell in Arkansas.

Abortion supporters have until July 5 to collect the nearly 91,000 petition signatures necessary to place their measures on the ballot.

You can download a copy of the abortion amendment here.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Arkansas Department of Education Accepting Public Comments on Rules Protecting Student Privacy

Legislation,

The Arkansas Department of Education is accepting public comments on newly proposed rules protecting the physical privacy of public school students.

Last year Gov. Sanders signed Act 317 by Rep. Mary Bentley (R – Perryville) and Sen. Dan Sullivan (R – Jonesboro) protecting privacy in public school locker rooms, showers, restrooms, changing areas, and similar facilities.

The law requires public schools to designate these facilities for “male” or “female” use.

It also addresses sleeping accommodations for students on overnight school trips — something that has been a serious problem for students in other states.

The Department of Education’s new rules would act as executive policies to help ensure Arkansas’ public schools are properly following Act 317.

Every student has a right to physical privacy and safety at school and on school-sponsored trips.

Public school students’ school records are protected by law, because we value student privacy. A student’s physical privacy should be just as important.

Act 317 helps protect the physical privacy of public school students in school showers, locker rooms, restrooms, and similar facilities on campus, and it helps protect physical privacy and safety on overnight trips.

Family Council was pleased to support Act 317. We are grateful to the General Assembly for passing Act 317 and to the Arkansas Department of Education for promulgating rules to implement it.

Family Council’s team is reviewing the proposed rules, and we intend to offer public comments on them later this month.

You Can Read a Copy of the Proposed Rules Here.

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