This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Friday laid out a plan to address the state's national youth mental health crisis and give parents the power to sue big tech companies and “hold bad actors accountable.” It was announced that there was.
Sanders will also raise the issue at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, next week. She will join Jonathan Haidt, author of “The Anxious Generation,” to discuss the role of smartphones and social media in harming America's youth.
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sarah huckabee sanders (AFP Getty)
At Davos, Sanders will also join Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear in a bipartisan session to discuss state priorities and the role of state government in the presidential transition as President Biden bows to President-elect Trump. It's planned.
When it comes to Big Tech, Sanders told Fox News Digital that protecting children is a top priority for his administration.
“Over the past decade, anxiety, depression and suicide among teens have skyrocketed across America, and the cause is clear: unrestricted access to phones and social media,” she said.
“Under my leadership, Arkansas will take action to empower parents and protect our children.”
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“I look forward to speaking at Davos about this critical issue and how my administration is working to hold Big Tech accountable.”
In terms of addressing Big Tech's role in fueling the nation's youth mental health crisis, Sanders previously mentioned launching a pilot program to eliminate phones in schools in 2024. The program provides state funding to schools to purchase phone pouches to prevent their use in schools. day.
Sanders' father, Mike Huckabee, who previously served as governor of Arkansas, said he also plans to change the state's social media safety laws.
Regarding holding Big Tech accountable in the mental health crisis, Sanders said, “It's a modern threat…We need modern solutions.”
“Nowhere is that more true than with our children,” she said in the State of the State address.
“Over the past decade, suicide rates among teens have tripled across America, self-harm among girls has increased by nearly 200 percent, and depression among teens has increased by 150 percent. The culprit is obvious: unrestricted access to phones and social media.”
She invited a mother from Centerton, Ark., whose 16-year-old son took his own life after he went from being an active, sports-loving teenager to watching social media videos on his cell phone.
Social media applications appear on your iPhone screen. (Getty)
The boy's mother tried to take away his cell phone, but the boy eventually ran into his room, where he had already taken his own life within 13 minutes.
“A few months later, I was overwhelmed with grief,” Sanders said.[The boy’s mother] decided to pass [his] phone. She joined his TikTok and what she saw there shocked her. Video after video showed step-by-step instructions on how to end one's life. ”
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“We give moms:” [her] There is a right to sue Big Tech companies under state law, which could hold bad actors accountable. ”
Recently new yorker interviewAuthor Haidt, who attended Davos with Sanders, expressed shock at the difference between the generation whose “eyes burn out if you stand too close to the TV” and the new generation who are being warned about the pitfalls of social media.
“The technology environment in the '90s was miraculous. We loved it. Millennials grew up in that environment. Their mental health was good. … And in 2012 and 2013 There was a boom. The graph was going up all the time. It's incredibly sudden for mental health to fall off a cliff.”
