Feb. 2, 2026, 5:07 a.m. CT
- The federal App Store Accountability Act would create a national standard for age verification and parental consent.
- Tennessee has already implemented phone bans in schools, but further protections are needed outside the classroom.
- This proposed legislation would require app stores to verify user ages and get parental consent for minors.
In 2024, I sat down with Michael Hendrix, one of Gov. Lee’s policy advisors, at the National Governors Association Winter Meeting to talk about keeping Tennessee kids safer online. The conversation kept circling back to phone bans in schools.
Tennessee has since implemented that policy, and I can see the logic—it helps kids focus on school during the day. But I don’t think it’s an either/or solution. I think we need both: limits during school hours and protections beyond the classroom.
What’s needed: A ratings system for social media app safety for minors
I worked at Valor Collegiate Academies here in Nashville for several years as a program coordinator, where I observed how different the maturity levels are between middle schoolers and high schoolers. Yet they’re all using the same platforms with the same content. Now, through my work with a local nonprofit, I’m in a community with hundreds of families raising teens.
The topic often comes up: How do we know if we’re keeping our kids safe online? How do we keep up with all the different social media apps and controls? One of the parents I work with blatantly said, “I can’t keep up with it all. I just hope it works out.”
Growing up in the ’90s, our parents had movie ratings to guide our Blockbuster Friday night selections. I’d better not show up at the counter with anything rated higher than PG-13—my mom did not play. Those ratings weren’t perfect, but they gave parents a baseline. We don’t have that in place yet for social media, and I believe the App Store Accountability Act could be a step in the right direction.
App Store Accountability Act: A baseline for digital safety
The federal App Store Accountability Act would create that baseline. States like Texas, Utah and Louisiana have already passed their own versions. But a federal law would establish one consistent standard nationwide. It would require app stores to verify users’ ages when accounts are created and to require parental consent before minors can download apps or make in-app purchases.
When I went to D.C. in 2024 to talk to lawmakers about this, I came back to one question: How can we protect what we don’t know? The technology for age verification already exists. Why wouldn’t we use it? Once we actually know how old someone is, we can start setting guardrails that make sense for their age.
The call for Tennessee lawmakers
Tennessee took the step to limit devices during school hours. Now we need to extend streamlined protections to the rest of kids’ digital lives.
No legislation is perfect, but it doesn’t have to be. This is a starting point for more tailored, age-appropriate, streamlined and safer experiences. It puts some responsibility back on the systems distributing these apps while keeping parents in the loop when it actually matters.
As technology continues to evolve, it’s important for our safety measures and support as parents to evolve with it and be as simple as possible. For Nashville families trying to raise kids in a digital world, the App Store Accountability Act is worth paying attention to.
Samantha Sharpe is a Nashville creator (@heysamanthadanielle), mom and advocate.
