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The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –
Republican legislation designed to help keep students safe while using the internet in Tennessee schools is scheduled to be heard on both the House and Senate floors today and will likely see some bipartisan support.
HB1886/SB1912 by Rep. Scott Cepicky and Sen. Joey Hensley requires each local education agency (LEA) and public charter school to review its internet acceptable use policy at least twice per year and update as needed. The policy must establish at minimum:
- Internet safety protocols for students that are integrated into the school’s instructional program,
- Guidelines for effective communication with parents to raise awareness of internet safety,
- Rules designed to protect the safety and security of students who use the school internet to access email, chat rooms, or any other form of “direct electronic communication online”,
- Safeguards to prevent students from using the school internet to access websites, applications, or software that does not protect students against the use, disclosure, or dissemination of their personal information,
- “Select technology” that prohibits internet access to harmful content which is pornographic or obscene, overly violent or frightening for the student’ age or maturity level, has no educational value, or promotes self-harm.
It also expands requirements for providers of digital or online instructional materials created for pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade, mandating that these providers “filter, block, or otherwise prevent access through any provided digital or online materials” to age-or-audience inappropriate materials, which include pornography, developmentally inappropriate violence, or encouragement of self-harm.
The bill allows LEAs to create email addresses for students in grades pre-K-5, but only as “a data point to identify the student in security or grading software,” and the pre-K-5 students would be prohibited from accessing the address and sending or receiving email.
Finally, should a student under the age of 18 access a website using the school internet which is in violation of the internet use policy, the school would be required to notify the student’ parent or guardian of the prohibited access.
During the committee process, several witnesses testified to the mental, emotional, and developmental harms they have encountered as parents or medical practitioners to children who have unfettered access to the internet, especially those elementary-aged.
Experts highlighted the outdated and ineffective safety guardrails currently used on school devices, pointing out that most filters rely on “blacklisting”, the practice of blocking content after harm occurs, which still enables students to access pornography, predators, and self-harm videos even when those filters are in place.
They supported this bill as it requires the use of “whitelisting” which proactively allows only the use of approved educational content from the start and discussed a young child’s neurological inability to practice the self-control required for self-regulated internet use.
“The brain’s self-control center does not fully develop mature until the mid-twenties. Expecting elementary school students to self-regulate in the face of addictive technology is neurologically unfair,” one speaker said.
Speaking in support of the bill, Sen. Mark Pody agreed with the self-control comments, saying to the witnesses during the Senate Education Committee, “I can tell you, I’ve got grandkids, I can’t keep them from eating sweets, much less surfing [the internet], so thank you.”
HB1886 has thus far seen near unanimous success as it has worked through the House, and while the Senate has seen strong Republican support for the bill, Democrats have continually voted “No”, arguing it would be more constructive for the state’s Department of Education to develop a list of approved sites instead of individual LEAs to decide what is considered inappropriate and that totally overhauling the infrastructure of schools’ IT programs would be too difficult or costly.
But as the bill has passed all its required committees, it will now be heard by the full House and Senate today, April 20.
Should the legislation pass both chambers and be signed by the Governor, it would take effect July 1, 2027, and apply for the 2027-2028 school year onwards.
About the Author: Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
