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The Texas Senate’s Joint Committee to Study the Effects of Media on Minors heard raw testimony on the dangers of unregulated online consumption for minors.
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Experts testified about the negative health and developmental effects unrestricted online use can have on minors, including social media, live gaming, cell phone use and more.
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The bipartisan committee is gathering information with the goal of proposing new bills during the upcoming legislative session. That could restrict access to certain websites by minors.
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The Texas Senate’s Joint Committee to Study the Effects of Media on Minors heard raw testimony on the dangers of unregulated online consumption for minors.
-
Experts testified about the negative health and developmental effects unrestricted online use can have on minors, including social media, live gaming, cell phone use and more.
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The bipartisan committee is gathering information with the goal of proposing new bills during the upcoming legislative session. That could restrict access to certain websites by minors.
DallasSeveral Texans testified candidly before lawmakers, sharing their warning tales about uncontrolled internet consumption.
A state committee is investigating measures to protect children’s internet use.
One of the few Texans who spoke before the state’s Joint Committee to Study the Effects of Media on Minors was Deasia Wiggins, 22, of the Harris Center for Mental Health.
“Plenty of kids I knew and lived with accessed hardcore pornography,” she stated.
Wiggins stated that after her mother passed away, she was exposed to online pornography at a young age and found herself in foster care.
“Due to the lack of supervision, I explored different types of pornography which created unrealistic ideas,” she stated. “Once I tried to imitate those scenes, it put me in very dangerous situations.”
Social media corporations are being forced to take more steps to protect youngsters by a new state law. A judge did, however, restrict the scope of the SCOPE Act’s enforcement.
According to Wiggins, she was sexually exploited. She is currently employed as a peer counselor.
The committee is debating how different media, such as social media, websites, live video gaming, and unfettered cell phone use, affect children’s health and development.
A few specialists also provided testimony.
According to Dr. Robert Epstein of the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology, “Internet addiction is rapidly becoming more common and more harmful among young people than smoking, drinking, and all other substance addictions.”
Joshua Broome, a Dallas citizen and now a preacher, claimed that his exposure to pornography as a teenager distorted his perceptions of intimacy and caused him to spend six years working in the adult film industry. He testified that his life became unmanageable.
“I was dying inside,” he described to the committee. “That led to me trying to take my life.”
In order to propose new legislation during the next legislative session that would limit children’ access to specific websites, the nonpartisan committee is now collecting information.
Although Texas already has a law requiring age verification on pornographic websites, disputes over its implementation are still ongoing.
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“Other addictive substances are prohibited. Dr. Linda McGee, a pediatrician with the Texas Medical Association, stated, “We limit alcohol, gambling, and tobacco to 21 because we know teens are, specifically their brains, primed for addiction.”
“This is taking place. “We’re hopeful that the federal government will take action,” stated State Senator Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola). However, we won’t wait for them. Texas will take the lead in this.
It’s not only about pornography, experts say.
A pediatrician stated that one of her patients, who claimed to forget to eat, dropped twenty pounds while playing live computer games. After joining an internet discussion group, a teenage girl claimed to have developed an eating disorder.
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The Joint Committee to Study the Effects of Media on Minors’ Hearing on Tuesday provided the information for this article.
The Joint Committee to Study the Effects of Media on Minors’ Hearing on Tuesday provided the information for this article.
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