Children and Media

[Commentary]  If you think middle-class children are being harmed by too much screen time, just consider how much greater the damage is to minority and disadvantaged kids, who spend much more time in front of screens. While some parents in more dangerous neighborhoods understandably think that screen time is safer than playing outside, the deleterious effects of too much screen time are abundantly clear.

What an honor it is, to take part in Safer Internet Day 2018 with you, the future leaders of this state and nation.

A group of Silicon Valley technologists who were early employees at Facebook and Google, alarmed over the ill effects of social networks and smartphones, are banding together to challenge the companies they helped build. The cohort is creating a union of concerned experts called the Center for Humane Technology.

In a Jan 26 blog post, Commissioner Michael O'Rielly of the Federal Communications Commission is proposing the FCC rethink what he calls its "ineffective and burdensome requirements currently imposed on our nation’s broadcasters to air a certain amount of educational and informational children’s programming on a weekly basis." That is the requirement that TV stations air at least three hours per week of core educational/informational children's TV programming in at least 30-minute blocks.

I posit that the Federal Communications Commission needs to reconsider the ineffective and burdensome requirements currently imposed on our nation’s broadcasters to air a certain amount of educational and informational children’s programming on a weekly basis, colloquially referred to as Kid Vid.  While Kid Vid rules (minus the reporting requirements) apply to noncommercial educational stations like PBS, such programming is tied to the mission of these stations and PBS does not need a mandate to continue providing such content.  In fact, children’s programming on PBS is only expected to inc

The smartphone has fueled much of Silicon Valley’s soaring profits over the past decade, enriching companies in sectors from social media to games to payments. But over the past year or so, a number of prominent industry figures have voiced concerns about the downsides of the technology’s ubiquity.

Millions of Americans have been caught up in a bitter debate over the repeal of net neutrality rules that prevented broadband providers from blocking websites or demanding fees to reach consumers.

Consumer groups want the Federal Trade Commission and retailers to crack down on Interconnected toys and smartwatches to protect kids' privacy.