Assembly Speaker's Task Force on Protecting Kids

It is our calling as Wisconsinites and our duty as elected officials to protect the most innocent among us, our kids. That is why I am profoundly grateful to have chaired the Speaker’s Task Force on Protecting Kids. The task force focused on how to prepare parents and protect kids in a digital age with rapidly changing technology. As families try to navigate the online landscape that their children can access at the click of a button, the task force examined the effects of social media on youth development, evaluated the benefits and drawbacks to children having unlimited, unsupervised access to the internet and social media, and assessed the risks and dangers of children being online anywhere and anytime.

We held four hearings, receiving a wealth of testimony from organizations and individuals who all work hard in their own fields to keep kids safe in a digital age.

Each hearing focused on a particular topic to keep kids safe: family, law enforcement, education, and mental health.

We heard testimony from such groups as The Anxious Generation Movement; the Department of Justice's ICAC Task Force; Mothers Against Media Addiction; the Watertown Community Health Foundation; the Wisconsin Alliance for Infant Mental Health; Thriving Wisconsin, and many others, including constituents of the 27th District like Kevin Bruggink, Oostburg School District Superintendent, and Isaiah Ketterhagen, an educator and parent at Oostburg High School.

We worked diligently to translate this testimony into meaningful, effective legislation and introduced 12 new bills across the areas of our focus: technology, education, law enforcement, and strengthening families.

Details about this legislation, and other important information about the work of our Task Force can be found in the linked Report.