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- Ohio lawmakers aim to pass a bill that extends work hours for students and decreases time on TikTok.
- The measure, which needs House approval, already passed in the Ohio Senate, WOUB Public Media reports.
- Time spent by teenagers on apps like TikTok and Instagram has been top-of-mind among lawmakers.
The Ohio Senate has passed a bill that would expand the number of hours high school students can work during the year.
Students in Ohio can currently work at after-school jobs until 7 p.m. during the school year and up until 9 p.m. in the summer. The proposed legislation, which still needs to pass in the House, would allow students to work until 9 p.m year-round, WOUB Public Media reports.
According to the bill's sponsors, the pending state law should also limit the time teenagers spend on social media apps like TikTok.
"It will allow them the opportunity to earn some extra dollars. And here's a bonus that we maybe haven't thought about – this is less time that they will be spending on social media, like TikTok and others," said Sen. Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland), the publication reported.
The amount of time teenagers spend on apps like TikTok and Instagram has been top-of-mind among lawmakers for years, especially as more studies are published about the negative impact it can have on mental health.
Last month, Fox19 reported that Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine had proposed a new "Social Media Parental Notification Act," as part of his 2023 executive budget. The legislation would mandate that social media sites receive parental approval before children under the age of 16 can sign up for an account.
For its part, TikTok unveiled new policies on March 1 that intend to proactively limit the amount of time users spend on its app. Users under the age of 18 will receive a notification to enter a passcode after surpassing 60 minutes on the app for the day. A parent or guardian will need to approve additional screen time for children aged 12 and younger.
"Research shows that being more aware of how we spend our time can help us be more intentional about the decisions we make," TikTok said in a press release about the announcement. "We're also prompting teens to set a daily screen time limit if they opt out of the 60-minute default and spend more than 100 minutes on TikTok in a day."