South Carolina senator, Lindsey Graham, seems to be one of those brave men we love here at WOW who isn’t afraid to take a stand for protecting children. S-3398 “Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act of 2020” or the “EARN IT Act of 2020” is being championed by her in the senate at US Capitol this summer.
Some people are critical of the EARN It Act of 2020 because they say it takes away important internet freedoms. WOW understands that perspective and has never been in favor of censoring or controlling people or taking rights away. In fact, we have vocally be in full support of all legal rights owed to citizens of the United States.
However, WOW fully acknowledges that while adults should have full internet freedoms, children should not. We know so much about the brain these days. Developmentally, children aren’t prepared to self-govern their choices fully until they are at the very least 18. Many brain experts are saying the pre-frontal cortex of the brain, that does all the logical problem solving for the person, isn’t fully developed until the person is between the ages of 18 and 26 years old now.
An undeveloped child brain is not capable of full discernment and can be too easily groomed (or led by others) to crave certain behaviors or have certain ideas. Also, chemically child brains are even more prone to addiction than adult brains. Dr. Jen Brown explains in this video.
The EARN IT Act of 2020 establishes a national commission on online child sexual exploitation prevention. This commission will, “develop recommended best practices that providers of interactive computer services may choose to implement to prevent, reduce, and respond to the online sexual exploitation of children, including the enticement, grooming, sex trafficking, and sexual abuse of children and the proliferation of online child sexual abuse material.”
This commission is a very positive move for the United States to make. So many children are sexually exploited in the Untied States through sources that are marketed as safe or are deceiving children every day like school and library databases. This act will take steps to protect some of the most vulnerable among us, the children!
The only reason WOW sees for this act not to be adopted is if adults in leadership in our country think children should be exploited, trafficked, and sexually violated by digital purveyors and businesses. We call upon all responsible citizens to reach out to their senators and representatives at the United States capitol to ask them to support the EARN IT Act of 2020. We must save the children!
