SPONSOR: Schmidt
COMMITTEE ACTION: Voted "Do Pass with HCS" by the Standing Committee on Children and Families by a vote of 13 to 0.
The following is a summary of the House Committee Substitute for HB 3077.
This bill requires school districts to develop instructional materials for grades three-12 with at least one unit of responsible social media use and beginning in the 2027-28 school year, to teach such curriculum annually.
The bill outlines information the instructional materials must provide including, but not limited to, the permanency and risks of sharing material online; maintaining personal security and identify cyberbullying, predatory behavior, and human trafficking on the internet and social media; and how to report criminal suspicious activity or explicit content encountered on the internet and social media.
Districts can also include benefits of social media in the instructional materials and use instructional materials developed by a third-party that is recognized by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The bill also requires districts to provide resources to staff and families regarding technology use, as provided in the bill.
The following is a summary of the public testimony from the committee hearing. The testimony was based on the introduced version of the bill.
PROPONENTS: Supporters say that this bill has a simple goal of ensuring that safe and secure social media use is taught. Many don't understand the permanency of pictures sent online. Adults in teens' lives need to be taught as well. Many school districts are attempting programs like this prior to legislative implementation. Responsible social media use can be integrated in many different curricula and schools can be creative in how they implement the program, without putting additional burdens on the school system. Testifying in person for the bill were Representative Schmidt; Arnie C. Dienoff; Missouri Network Against Child Abuse; Stephanie Embry; and Cara Gerdiman, Kid's Harbor.
OPPONENTS: There was no opposition voiced to the committee.
Written testimony has been submitted for this bill. The full written testimony and witnesses testifying online can be found under Testimony on the bill page on the House website.
Statutes affected: