1229: How States Are Addressing Youth Screen Time and Technology Use

JOHN SHEEHAN: 

This is Public Health Review Morning Edition for Thursday, October 22, 2026. I'm John Sheehan with news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

States are taking a range of approaches to address youth technology use, from restricting cell phones in schools to regulating social media and pursuing legal action against social media companies. Today, Christina Severin, director of Public Health Law at ASTHO, discusses emerging policy trends, including legislation, executive orders, task forces, and school support resources, the focus of a recent ASTHO Health Policy Update. She also explains how ongoing litigation is shaping the landscape of what public health professionals should watch as states continue to address the potential impacts of technology and screen time on young people.

Christina Severin, welcome to the show.

CHRISTINA SEVERIN: 

Thanks so much, John.

SHEEHAN: 

So, Christina, your recent Health Policy Update highlights a range of state responses to youth and technology use and screen time. What are the policy trends that you're seeing across states?

SEVERIN: 

So this is a really big topic, and you're right. We did see a number of policy categories highlighted in the last couple of years in this space. So we decided to cover three main topics in this blog. So cell phones or mobile devices in schools, as well as other types of technology maybe used during the school day, and then a section on social media, so policies that are being initiated by states, and then also the litigation in that space. So we saw a wide variety of approaches, and also a bunch of different policy strategies within those areas that jurisdictions were pursuing.

SHEEHAN: 

Okay, and as your response sort of illustrates, it's so complicated. There's cell phones, there's school devices, there's social media accounts. Some are age-limited; some are not. Can you share some examples of policy approaches that some states are using?

SEVERIN: 

Yeah. So in the school space, we highlighted, as I said, kind of two different policy areas that we noted kind of in the last couple of years. So on the cell phone or mobile device side, we highlight some examples of both legislation and then also other policy activities that states are doing to either go ahead and just limit school cell phone uses or the use of cell phones in schools, absent some you know exceptions, or requiring maybe local educational agencies, school boards, and the like to develop a policy that has certain requirements, and then we've also seen some examples of how states have taken additional actions to support earlier policy that they've put forth. So both Ohio and South Carolina have developed some toolkits that they've put out to help support schools comply with earlier laws addressing cell phone use.

SHEEHAN: 

Yeah, and there are, you know, there's a variety of policy tools. There's legislation. There's these toolkits. There's executive orders. Can you give us some other examples of sort of the range?

SEVERIN: 

Yeah. So this is something that we definitely highlight in the blog when we're talking about device use, sort of during the instructional time or during the instructional day in schools. So there is a fair amount of legislation mentioned in this piece that can be common with our Health Policy Update series, where we do highlight legislation that is happening across the country, but as you noted, that's not the only type of policy strategy that we're seeing jurisdictions using in this space. So we did also highlight some other approaches that states took in the last couple of years. So one is, I think you mentioned an executive order. We noted one of those in Alabama focused on establishing a commission that is going to look at the use of screens and instructional technology in schools. New Hampshire took kind of a similar approach, but just formed a task force where they've brought a number of different interested parties together to look at the potential impacts of time spent on screens, look at what other states are doing, make some recommendations, and see how to move forward there.

SHEEHAN: 

Okay, and there's also the the hammer; there's litigation. Some states are taking social media companies to task in the courts.

SEVERIN: 

This is a really, really complicated area, and I will say this is just a snapshot of what's happening. It's a very, very active and complex area. It's evolving, probably as we speak. But yes, we do highlight kind of two sides of this, I guess, for lack of a better word. So, yeah, the first piece of this is, you know, states have taken legislative action in recent years that is focused in some cases on looking at limiting maybe the functionality of social media, limiting access in some ways to youth, and many of these laws have been challenged in the courts on constitutional grounds. Several of them are paused as litigation continues. Some are a bit further along in the appeals process, and there's just a lot happening in this space. There's also a fair amount of litigation that is being initiated by states in this space as well, and also some very recent settlements, some of which maybe listeners have heard of and have been in the news. And some of these challenges are alleging, you know, maybe violations of state laws in this space.

SHEEHAN: 

Yeah, are there resources available to public health professionals listening? I mean, as you have been saying, it's so complicated.

SEVERIN: 

So one thing that I will highlight is if you were particularly interested in that sort of strategy discussion of, like, well, you know, there's legislation, there's executive action, there's policy, there's, you know, technical support. I want to know more about that. Or if you are a listener who's particularly interested in suicide prevention, we do have ASTHO assisting with a webinar at the end of October that is going to talk about public health authority and how that can be leveraged to support a jurisdiction's policy goals. So the focus will be on suicide prevention policy and some efforts in that space. But if you're interested in just sort of general public health authority or policy strategy, or again, a particular interest in suicide prevention, that might be a great webinar for you to register for. And I think that we'll have the link to register in the show notes.

SHEEHAN: 

Absolutely. And lastly, sort of in the youth screen-time space, what should public health professionals be watching out for?

SEVERIN: 

So, given the amount of activity that we were able to locate for this blog post, I would expect us to continue to see examples of policy activity in this area going forward. Just as we saw a fair amount in the last couple of years, I would expect that to still be an area of interest, just based on what we're seeing, I think. Also, as I noted, the litigation landscape is very complex, and so that will continue to evolve. So we'll certainly be on the lookout for things in that space as well.

SHEEHAN: 

Well, Christina Severin, thanks so much.

SEVERIN: 

Thank you.

SHEEHAN: 

Christina Severin is director of Public Health Law at ASTHO.

Public health authority is one of the tools available to health departments as they work to advance suicide prevention policy and practice. Join ASTHO on October 28 for a webinar examining how public health authority can be leveraged to support policy goals. This session will explore how statutes, rules, and agency policies can be used to advance suicide prevention efforts, including data sharing, fatality review, and other formalized partnerships. Designed for health department staff, the webinar will highlight how public health authority underpins the policy levers available to address public health goals and challenges, with a particular focus on suicide prevention. Register at the link in the show notes.

The Brain Health and Caregiving (BHC) Learning Community is a cohort-based learning experience that will support state teams in learning about and implementing promising policies, models, and strategies for advancing brain health and caregiving. BHC Learning Community participants will engage in a series of virtual learning sessions and receive technical assistance from ASTHO to help identify and execute sustainable actions to support brain health and caregiving in their state. The deadline to apply is October 30. Learn more at the link in the show notes.

This has been Public Health Review Morning Edition. I'm John Sheehan for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.