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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | April 26, 2022 03:54 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator John I. Kane and Sen. Amanda M. Cappelletti |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Internet Safety Education Curriculum |
| In the near future, we plan to introduce a two-bill package to promote education about internet safety in Pennsylvania schools and strengthen privacy protections for students using education services technology. While digital technology has untold benefits when used appropriately, we know the risks to children can be significant. These risks include cyberbullying and abuse, unsafe digital communities, solicitation by sexual predators, and theft of personal information. The Safe to Say Something program, a youth violence prevention program administered by the PA Office of Attorney General, received more than 10,000 tips and many of them were directly or indirectly related to online activity. In addition to the Safe to Say Something data, more and more research has demonstrated that online activity, and in particular social media use, has impacted the mental health of children. Last year there were several congressional hearings that examined the negative impact of social media on youth mental health. A study from a major medical publication found links between social media use and increases in mental health issues, self-injury, and suicide among youth. Youth mental health issues are now the leading cause of disability between the ages of 10-24 years old. Furthermore, depression rates among young people have doubled in the past decades, with the sharpest uptick over the past two years. Studies, testimony, and statistics show that it is increasingly important that students be educated about how to be safe in an online environment. The PA Department of Education provides school districts with training and resources on best practices for protecting student data, and some school districts and classrooms include lessons on Internet safety. However, these efforts are inconsistent across the state. We believe Pennsylvania should join several other states which have passed laws to make age-appropriate Internet safety instructional materials available to all schools. Under this bill, local school boards would be empowered to determine the scope and duration of the required unit of instruction, which would be taught at least once each school year to students in kindergarten through grade twelve. Such instruction could be incorporated into the current courses of study regularly taught in the district’s schools, as determined by the school board. Recommended topics to be covered include, but would not be limited to:
This bill would also require the State Board of Education to make available on its Internet website resource materials for educating children regarding child online safety. This is a nearly identical bill to House Bill 1460 introduced by Representative Tina Davis. |
Introduced as SB1305