Youngkin announces task force to combat youth social media addiction at Henrico summit

Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced a new executive order aimed at tackling the impacts of “addictive” social media platforms on Virginia’s youth at the Reclaiming Childhood Youth Mental Health Summit held at The Westin Hotel in Henrico on Nov. 21. 

The executive order calls for the development of a “Social Media and Mental Health Toolkit” for parents and educators with resources to combat the negative effects of social media, as well as the creation of a “Reclaiming Childhood Task Force” that convenes parents, educators, mental health experts and others to identify ways to improve youth mental health. 

“Virginia and the nation’s children are facing a youth mental health crisis driven by the effects of unrestricted cell phone use and addictive social media platforms,” Youngkin said in a press release. “The scope of this challenge is going to require all of us – private sector, non-profit organizations and government – to support parents as they work to improve their children’s mental health.”

During his remarks at the youth health summit, which convened state legislators, educators, and others, Youngkin emphasized how the measure would build off of his “cell phone-free education” initiative this past July.

“We will see the mental health of students substantially increase,” he said. “Just yesterday, I had a note from a student who said, ‘I used to get C’s, D’s and F’s, and now I’m almost making honor roll, simply because I’m paying attention in school.’”

Youngkin also called on state legislators to consider new legislation for this upcoming General Assembly session that would raise the minimum age allowed to create a social media account without parental consent from 13 to 18.

Following Youngkin’s announcement, James Madison University student Harrison Haynes took to the stage to share his own experience with technology addiction as a teenager and the dangers of spending too much time online.

“I’ve had a really turbulent relationship with technology throughout my life. As a kid, I spent nearly all of my time behind a closed door on a screen,” Haynes said. “I watched thousands of hours of YouTube and TV. I played tens of thousands of hours of video games.”

Haynes said that when he was only 12-years-old, he befriended a 19-year-old online who groomed him over a period of several months, exposing him to pornography and self-harm, which Haynes then began to experiment with. Already suffering from depression, Haynes said that his isolation and reliance on technology made him more vulnerable to the internet predator.

“That void of friendship and mentorship, that older brother figure that nobody filled, that nobody saw, that nobody cared about, that nobody made time for – it was filed by an internet stranger. He was my only real friend,” said Haynes, who now advocates for stronger protections against online child exploitation and abuse. “Sadly, this troubling reality is becoming more and more common.”

In Henrico County, local mental health providers have seen a 42% increase in the number of suicide-risk screenings completed for Henrico Schools students over the past three years, prompting HCPS to launch a comprehensive youth mental health care plan, “Henrico CARES,” this year to equip schools with more mental health professionals and resources.

At the summit, Haynes encouraged listeners to “lead by example” for their children and students by maintaining healthy boundaries with technology, such as shutting their phones off at night and taking regular “digital detoxes” or phone breaks.

“It’s no surprise that young people feel this way, that all of us feel this way – scattered, chronically disconnected, distracted, overwhelmed, perpetually rushed and constantly on the move without a time to pause and rest,” Haynes said. “But we hold the power to reverse these effects with youth.”

Since the Virginia Department of Education released its draft guidelines for Youngkin’s cell-phone free schools initiative in August, encouraging school divisions to implement a “bell-to-bell” ban on cell phones, several districts have already announced that they will be enforcing the guidelines starting in January 2025, including Richmond Public Schools.

Henrico Schools has not yet announced whether schools will enforce the bell-to-bell ban starting next year. Beginning this school year, HCPS updated cell phone policies to require all students to store away their cell phones during class periods, either in classroom storage containers or in students’ backpacks. Depending on the school, some students are still allowed to have their phones between classes and during lunchtime. 

Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s Report for America Corps member and education reporter. Her position is dependent upon reader support; make a tax-deductible contribution to the Citizen through RFA here.