In response to a letter from a coalition that includes AASA, The School Superintendents Association, The Consortium for School Networking and national teacher’s unions including the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation held a hearing on January 15, 2026 that focused on the Mental Health crises tied to social media and technology use among children and teens. The letter stressed the importance of federal support for ed tech and connectivity in schools, but also said “It is essential to distinguish between largely unsupervised, entertainment-driven technology use at home and the intentional, monitored, and carefully curated use of technology in schools — where digital tools are employed to support learning and prepare students for future academic and workforce demands.”
As reported by K-12 Dive, proposed solutions from senators and hearing witnesses spanned from completely ditching 1:1 devices and ed tech in schools to banning young children and teens from going on social media altogether.
The conversations in the Senate are developing with a sense of urgency as research continues to demonstrate the harmful social and emotional effects of social media use on youth and as more school districts and states seek to ban or limit cellphone use during the school day.
Additionally, the rapid spread of artificial intelligence tools could exacerbate these ongoing fears about technology’s impact on the youth mental health crisis, hearing witnesses said.
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In the House, on the same day as the Senate hearing, Representatives shared bipartisan concerns over the risks of students using artificial intelligence — from overreliance on the technology to security of student data — during a House Committee on Education and Workforce hearing. Democrats at the hearing said more guardrails are necessary, but the Trump administration has made it harder to add those through executive orders aiming to block state-level regulations and its efforts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education. Republicans, however, cautioned against rushing new regulations on AI to make sure innovation in education and the workforce isn’t stymied.
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