Why isn't the Chair bringing this to a vote?
Both
the House Ways and Means Committee Chair, Delegate Anne Kaiser, and the
Education Subcommittee Chair, Delegate Eric Luedtke, represent District
14 in Montgomery County, home to Maryland's largest and most
influential school district.
HB1110, the classroom screen safety bill, is now in the subcommittee's hands, but Delegate Luedtke has not brought it up for a vote. Is it because of a letter from Montgomery County
Public Schools?
In its "no position" testimony for
HB1110, MCPS displays a bizarre ignorance of the substantial research on
the negative health impacts of digital devices, and a callous disregard
for the welfare of its students, whom the schools are legally bound to
protect. MCPS blatantly prioritizes additional digital tools over the
health of children:
"While well-intended, the
requirement to consider and adopt proposed guidelines and procedures for
the use of digital devices may, ultimately, contradict expectations of
Montgomery County Public Schools to address the increased reliance and
demand for digital tools in schools."
Citing
literature from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) that does not
apply to a school setting, MCPS also strangely fails to take into
account the Maryland AAP's support of the bill.
A
majority of the Education Subcommittee supports the creation of
statewide classroom screen safety guidelines, as do many of his Ways and
Means colleagues, so why hasn't Delegate Luedtke brought it to a vote?
It's undemocratic. There is no opposition and no associated costs. Just
kids being protected.
Right now, the youngest of
children can be required by their schools to use digital devices
literally from the time they walk into the building, until the moment
they walk out again. From Kindergarten through high school graduation.
Without any regulation whatsoever, even though OSHA protects workers
under the same circumstances.
 |
Delegate Eric G. Luedtke
District 14, Montgomery Co. |
If Delegate Luedtke fails
to bring HB1110 to a vote, he will seal the fate of children across the
state, increasing their risk for myopia, dry eye disease, obesity,
sleeplessness, anxiety, depression and suicide -- all related to the
daily use of digital devices,
according to researchers.
He
will also be ignoring the position of the state's medical community, 32
co-sponsors of the bill, and the fervent support of child welfare
groups across the state, and across the country. How can one person
deny the will of the people so flagrantly - especially when the health
of children hangs in the balance?
All Maryland students should have a safe classroom
This
bill ensures that the poorest kids in our state (not just the
affluent ones in districts whose parents are well informed about this issue) have equal protections
from the known hazards of classroom digital devices. The
state owes all of its children a safe classroom, especially when
individual school systems are ignoring warnings from physicians,
pediatricians, occupational therapists, psychologists, optometrists and
ophthalmologists -- all of whom provided written testimony supporting
this bill.
The
statistics are already piling up - myopia, obesity and suicide rates are soaring
among the nation's children. Researchers point directly to the use of digital devices as the culprit. It is unconscionable to fail to protect
Maryland students, when the hazards they face are actually introduced by
their schools.
Delegate Luedtke, you alone will ensure
that students are being protected, or harmed. Please put HB1110 up for a
vote. If you let the clock run out on this bill, children will suffer
needlessly.
Cindy Eckard
@screensandkids
www.screensandkids.us
The Maryland House of Delegates adopted amendments to HB1110 today, moving the nation's first classroom screen safety legislation one step closer to passage. A final vote of approval from the House is expected tomorrow when the delegates reconvene. 
