Alabama HB 78: Early childhood education; guidelines for limited screen time for children in certain licensed child-care facilities, certain preschools, and public kindergarten established, annual training requirement for teachers and certain staff members established, Department of Early Childhood Education, Department of Human Resources, and State Board of Education authorized to implement and enforce limited screen time requirements

Bill Text

RBQ8DNM-1 01/21/2026 GP (L)lg 2026-368 SUB HB78
EDUCATION POLICY SUBSTITUTE TO HB78
OFFERED BY REPRESENTATIVE ROSS
Page 1
SYNOPSIS:
This bill would require the Department of Early
Childhood Education to develop guidelines for the
appropriate use of screen-based media in early
childhood education programs, which includes day care
centers, day care homes, group day care homes, night
care facilities, prekindergarten, and kindergarten.
This bill would require the Department of Early
Childhood Education, in collaboration with the State
Department of Human Resources (DHR) and the State
Department of Education, to develop screen time
standards for early childhood education programs.
This bill would require the standards to address
age-appropriate screen time limits, guidelines for what
constitutes high-quality programming, and best
practices for screen time in early childhood education
programs.
This bill would require the Department of Early
Childhood Education, in collaboration with DHR and the
State Board of Education, to create a training program
on the appropriate use of screen time for teachers and
other staff members who supervise children.
This bill would require day care centers, day
care homes, group day care homes, and night care
facilities to implement the guidelines and training
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28

Page 2
facilities to implement the guidelines and training
requirements as a condition for licensure by DHR.
This bill would require certain prekindergarten
classrooms and each public kindergarten classroom to
implement the guidelines and training requirements.
This bill would require DHR to oversee the
implementation of this act for licensed child-care
facilities, the Secretary of the Department of Early
Childhood Education for prekindergarten classrooms, and
local boards of education for kindergarten classrooms.
This bill would also authorize the Department of
Early Childhood Education, DHR, and the State Board of
Education to adopt rules.
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to early childhood education; to add Article
4, commencing with Section 26-24-60, to Chapter 24, Title 26,
and Sections 16-40-15 and 38-7-7.1 to the Code of Alabama
1975; to require the Department of Early Childhood Education,
in collaboration with the State Department of Human Resources
(DHR) and the State Department of Education, to develop
standards and relevant annual training requirements for
appropriate screen time use in early childhood education
settings; to require each state agency to implement the
guidelines and training requirements for the early childhood
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56

Page 3
guidelines and training requirements for the early childhood
education programs under their jurisdiction; to condition
licensing of certain child-care facilities on compliance with
screen time guidelines; and to authorize the Department of
Early Childhood Education, DHR, and the State Board of
Education to adopt rules.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. (a) This act shall be known and may be cited
as the Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act.
(b) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) Birth through five years of age is a child's most
critical period of rapid brain development, language
acquisition, and social-emotional growth.
(2) Published peer-reviewed research demonstrates that
excessive screen exposure in children under three years of age
is associated with delayed communication skills, impaired
problem-solving, and reduced social interaction.
(3) National and international pediatric authorities
including, but not limited to, the American Academy of
Pediatrics, recommend little to no screen time for children
under two years of age and no more than one hour per day of
high-quality, adult-supervised screen use for children who are
two through five years of age.
(4) High-quality educational media used interactively
with adult participation may provide some benefit, but should
not displace physical activity, caregiver interaction, or
sleep time.
(5) It is the intent of this state to provide parents,
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84

Page 4
(5) It is the intent of this state to provide parents,
caregivers, and educators with research-based guidelines and
standards regarding screen time to safeguard children's
healthy development.
Section 2. A new Article 4, commencing with Section
26-24-60, is added to Chapter 24 of Title 26, Code of Alabama
1975, to read as follows:
Article 4
§26-24-60
For the purposes of this article, the following terms
have the following meanings:
(1) ADULT-SUPERVISED USE. Media engagement in which a
parent, guardian, or caregiver is actively present and guiding
and discussing the media content.
(2) DEPARTMENT. The Department of Early Childhood
Education.
(3) EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION PROGRAM. a. All of