A Wake-Up Call for Parents on Screens and Kids

The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation—chaired by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX)—held a high-profile hearing titled “Kids’ Screen Time” on January 15, 2026, examining the growing impact of social media and personal devices on America’s youth.

Emily Cherkin, author and founder of The Screentime Consultant, is a nationally recognized advocate for tech-intentional parenting and education. In this short video clip, she warned about the risks of excessive screen time and the growing harms of educational technology (EdTech), arguing that digital tools are fundamentally reshaping childhood and steadily eroding parental authority.

Cherkin called for a tech-intentional design code for EdTech that prioritizes informed consent, child development, and skill-building before screens, while rejecting the monetization of children’s data and attention. She emphasized that the core problem is not poor parenting, but the addictive, profit-driven design of modern technology.

She also cautioned that emerging AI “companion” apps may pose even greater risks to children than social media itself and urged Congress to enact meaningful safeguards. Her advocacy is informed by her experience as a former middle-school teacher, a parent of two, co-founder of the Student Data Privacy Project, and author of The Screentime Solution: A Judgment-Free Guide to Becoming a Tech-Intentional Family.