Latest / In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson / Social Media and Children - TPR's In Focus - April 17, 2026

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Social Media and Children - TPR's In Focus - April 17, 2026 · In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson

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  Support comes from the Wiregrass Archives at Troy University's Dothan Campus,
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  identifying and preserving historical documents and photographs for research related to the
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  Wiregrass region. More information at troy.edu slash wiregrass archives.
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  From Troy Public Radio, this is the News Wrap from In Focus, and I'm Carolyn Hutcheson.
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  Todd Stacy, host of Alabama Public Television's Capitol Journal,
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  discusses Senator Katie Britt's Stop the Scroll Act.
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  And the wild card is about a heroic rant in Cambodia.
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  Todd Stacy, welcome back to the News Wrap. Good to be with you.
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  Todd, I so enjoyed your program last week,
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  and I'm wondering what is the big issue for the News Wrap this week?
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  Congress returned. They had been on recess for two weeks.
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  They returned this week and got right to work on a very long to-do list.
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  U.S. Senator Katie Britt is pressing forward with what she's called the Stop the Scroll Act.
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  It has to do with social media companies. You know, they have that landmark ruling against
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  social media companies like Google and Facebook, but that was in the court system.
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  This is legislation. It's actually bipartisan legislation that is aimed to essentially warn
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  of the harms associated with social media use, especially for minors, for children under the
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  age of 18, to actually put a warning label, warning of the social harms. And we all know
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  that now. There's serious addiction when it comes to social media. Beyond that, it's bullying.
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  It's really unhealthy, the amount of time, not just children, but all of us really,
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  are spending on our phones. Her bill was aimed at children. And it's interesting because
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  the state enacted a law this year that would require age verification for minors. And if
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  you are under 18, you would have to basically have your parents' permission to be on some
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  of these platforms. And so you're starting to see not just the state, but now the feds
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  get involved. Put some guardrails on the social media industry that has really just exploded
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  over the last decade. And I know you've also covered the fact that schools have
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  put some guardrails on the use of social media. In fact, to the point of taking away cell phones
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  during school hours. That's right. That was last year, the state passed a law banning cell phones
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  in school. Schools are allowed to handle it differently. Some have little pouches. When
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  you get to school, you put it in a pouch. We've had such great feedback on that. I've talked to
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  principals. I've talked to teachers that say that has been needed. And of course, there was a little
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  complaining at first, but they're saying that kids are talking with each other. They're not just
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  looking at their phone. They're more attentive. Behavior problems have gone down. And of course,
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  the other thing, that bullying aspect, so pervasive. By all accounts, that has been a successful law.
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  Well, let's turn our attention to a wild card and lighten up.
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  I know not everybody likes rats, but there's some rats in Britain that are getting real praise
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  because these animals have been trained to detect landmines in Cambodia. Landmines left over from
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  long ago wars and it can be dangerous for anybody. They've trained these rats to go and detect these
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  landmines so that the authorities can go in and remove them properly. So tip of the cap to the
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  rats that are saving lives in Cambodia. Hero rats. That's right. Who is on Capital Journal tonight
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  and Sunday? Well, we're going to be talking with State Senator Will Barfoot. He had that Montgomery
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  policing bill that was pretty controversial and led to a lot of discussion. It did not pass,
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  but I wanted to talk to him about it to see if it might come back up because the issue of
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  police recruiting and trying to staff up the Montgomery Police Department is certainly still
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  there. Also talking with Jared Hudson. He is one of the candidates running for the U.S. Senate.
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  We try to have all the candidates on. And also, it's a special week for us at Alabama Public
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  Television because it's Young Heroes Week. Each year we award scholarships to special high
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  schoolers who have demonstrated excellence in leadership and community involvement in the face
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  of serious adversity. I'm really looking forward to showing them off on Capital Journal. Thank you
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  so much for joining us today. Thank you. That was Todd Stacy, host of Alabama Public Television's
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  Capital Journal. More information can be found at the website aptv.org. Thanks for joining us
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  today for the news wrap from In Focus, which is a podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
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  I'm Carolyn Hutcheson and this is listener-supported Troy Public Radio.