As of Jan. 1, 2026, a law limits the screen time of adolescents of or below the age of 16 to one hour of screen time per social media app.
A new law passed through Virginia’s legislative branch, and it is known as the “Consumer Data Protection Act; social media platforms, responsibilities and prohibitions to minors.” The law requires any controller or processors of a social media app, such as Instagram, Snapchat, or TikTok, to determine the age of users on the app and put screen time limits on anyone 16 and below. Daily limits may be increased despite the law, but only if verifiable parental consent is given.
Students around the school have various opinions on how the new law will influence interactions among students, such as freshman Devanth Kondragunta.
“It’s not really being advertised or anything, so I don’t think it could be expected for many parents or kids to realize that these laws have been passed,” Kondragunta said. “I really don’t think it’ll change anything.”
Alongside this, council remains out for if the law will provide a positive or negative impact on the student body’s physical and mental health. Freshman Finnegan Davis claims to have a strong opinion on the law’s capability.
“Overall, I think it’ll be a net positive,” Davis said. “Cause honestly, apart from connecting with other people, social media is not necessarily required for anything, and is inherently negative.”
Despite public opinion, children in metropolitan areas aged between fifteen and seventeen are reported to have four or more hours on social media on average by the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
Junior Chris Martinez iterates his opinion on how social media shapes him as a person.
“It’s allowed me to connect with my friends more, but it also has the negative stuff as well, you know, doom scrolling and being unproductive,” Martinez said.
Even further among the other high schools in the state, opinions still seem to vary. Freshman Hunter Pierce from L.C. Bird High School claimed to have strong opinions about the effect of the new law.
“I believe it could be a good thing. Like, in theory, it’d be good, but in practice, I don’t think it’ll do what they want it to do,” Pierce said. “just because people are terrible. They’ll do whatever. They’ll steal their parents’ IDs or whatever else to get more screentime.”
Despite opinions from the people of the state, the law has already passed the legislative branch, made it to Governor Youngkin’s desk, and received his signature. For further specifics on the Consumer Data Protection Act, visit the Virginia government page for the official wording.
