Remarks of Assistant Secretary Arielle Roth at NTIA's Listening Session on Kids' Excessive Screen Time

Remarks of Arielle Roth
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
NTIA Listening Session on Kids' Excessive Screen Time
December 10, 2025

Thank you all for being here. 

As I mentioned in my remarks last week when we launched this effort, the issue of excessive screen time is one that is deeply personal. 

I’m a mom of six kids. Like so many parents, I struggle almost every day to monitor and limit my kids’ internet and screen use. It’s hard enough with so much cultural pressure to be constantly online, but it’s even more of a challenge when screens have become inescapable at school and so much assigned homework is screen-based. 

The public debate often focuses on banning cell phones in schools, and while that’s important, it only scratches the surface. When you talk to most parents, their concern isn’t just cell phones—it’s that their children are on school laptops, devices, and digital curricula and platforms for large portions of the school day, starting at very young ages. 

This accelerated during COVID, when remote learning pushed the entire school day onto a screen. But what began as an emergency response has now, in many places, become the baseline. 

I think we should be asking what’s driving these trends. That includes looking at how federal rules, policies, and funding streams may be accelerating excessive screen use in the classroom. 

For example, federal programs designed to expand technology use in schools may not always align with what’s best for children’s education or well-being. We should be honest about whether and to what extent such programs help students—or whether they’re being driven by the interests of the lobbyists and companies that ultimately benefit from the subsidies. 

Technology has a role in education, of course. But it should support learning, not fuel distraction or unhealthy habits. 

That is what today’s listening session is designed to explore. We want a clear picture of how technology is being used in school, the consequences for kids’ health, development, and learning, and how parents can be empowered on their children’s screen use. We want to understand commercial incentives in the ed tech marketplace, how procurement decisions are made, and how federal programs and policies may be influencing those choices. We also want to hear about the treatment of children’s data by ed tech platforms, including how and to what extent such data is shared with third parties. 

I want to be clear that NTIA is not setting education policy. That is not our role. But NTIA does have responsibility for evaluating whether federal connectivity policies and programs are supporting healthy, effective outcomes. We are also uniquely positioned to convene agencies, experts, and advocates at the intersection of technology policy and children’s wellbeing. 

I want to express my deep gratitude to our partners across the Administration who have helped shape this effort. Thank you to Dr. Stephanie Haridopolos and her team, who have been diligently advancing research on children’s technology use in coordination with the Office of the Surgeon General, as well as colleagues across HHS. I also want to acknowledge the partnership of colleagues from the Department of Education and the expertise they bring on this subject. 

I am also grateful for the engagement from the Offices of the First and Second Lady. I want to thank Sarah Gesiriech and Wendy Qiu for attending today and for their support as this effort moves forward. We value their interest in this issue and look forward to continuing the conversation with them. 

Thank you to NTIA’s expert policy team—Emma Llansó, Rafi Goldberg, Christopher Quarles, Jaisha Wray, and Eric Chacón—for their amazing work and dedication pulling this effort together. 

And, last but not least, thank you to the parents, teachers, students, and experts joining us today to illuminate what is happening on the ground and help us understand how federal policy is shaping children’s screen use, as well as the potential and demonstrated effects on their development and wellbeing. 

Our priority today is to listen. I look forward to hearing from our speakers today and working with all of you on an approach to screen use that puts children, their well-being, and their education first. 

Thank you.