U.S. Senator Katie Britt met with Fox News' Will Cain this morning at Rickwood Field in Birmingham to discuss social media and the need to limit its use by young children. Britt and Cain are at Rickwood today along with thousands of fans watching the first major league game being played at the nation's oldest professional baseball stadium.

Britt, the only female U.S. senator with school-age children, was the first to speak out about the massive increase in depression that has coincided with the rise of social media.

“Anyone with kids this age is worried about the impact social media is having on their kids' lives,” said Rep. Britt (R-Montgomery). “And we're learning more about it. If you look back at the data from 2011 to 2019, the rate of depression in young people has more than doubled. This coincides perfectly with the rise of social media. There was a lot we didn't know about social media back then that we know now.”

She also said,Wait until the 8th“The pledge is a way for parents to avoid letting their children use smartphones until they reach the eighth grade. Britt said she would like to see parents take a more active role in monitoring their children's social media habits.

RELATED: Katie Britt agrees with Surgeon General on need to protect kids from social media

“I urge parents to take note of what the Surgeon General has said: I mean, these warnings are out there now. We have to give parents the tools and the information they need to make good choices for their children. As a parent myself, I not only have some insight, but I also feel an obligation to make sure this issue is always on the table in Congress, because we had to do something.”

There is strong bipartisan support for combating the youth mental health crisis and protecting kids on social media.

The time to turn that support into concrete action is now: pass solutions like the Kids Online Safety Act and the Kids Off Social Media Act. pic.twitter.com/lrRWulDTYV

— Senator Katie Boyd Britt (@SenKatieBritt) June 20, 2024

The senator demonstrated his bipartisan commitment to the interests of American children, and also mentioned new legislation to protect minors from algorithms used by social media companies.

“From the day I stepped onto the Senate floor, I've worked with Senator Tom Cotton on ways to empower parents. I worked with Senator Amy Klobuchar on youth mental health research. More recently, I've worked with my opponents, Senators Brian Schatz and Chris Murphy, and myself, Senator Ted Cruz. This should not be a partisan issue. It can't be.”

RELATED: Brit helps introduce bill to protect kids from the harmful effects of social media

“We often say, 'We're not united as Democrats or Republicans, we're united as concerned parents raising teenagers in this environment, and we know we have to do more.' So our bill keeps kids under 13, 13 to 17, off social media and prohibits algorithms from being used against them. The real focus here for Senator Cruz is that schools, if they're federally funded, should be required to keep kids off social media in the classroom. We have that. We also have Senator Blumenthal and Senator Blackburn's Kids Online Safety Act, which has over 60 cosponsors. It's bipartisan.”

“This is the kind of thing that needs to be debated on the floor of the Senate.”

Meaningful legislation on this issue must be passed immediately, Britt said.

“Chuck Schumer owes it to America to address these issues, to debate them, to make sure we put in place the right guardrails for parents and children and save lives,” Schumer said. [Centers for Disease Control] Last year alone, one in three high school girls reported actually considering suicide. And 9% of high school girls actually attempted suicide.

“That's not OK. This is an emergency and we need to be active. My husband and my kids. We are here. This is important. We are doing this now and we will continue to do this in the future.”

Austin Shipley is a staff writer for Yellow Hammer News. You can follow him on X. @ShipleyAusten