Wisconsin is one of 47 states settling with Meta over the harm its platforms have done to young people. Our state will receive at least $219 million, and as much as $313 million, over the next decade. The attorney general’s office will decide how that money is spent.When most people hear about this settlement, they picture teenagers: cyberbullying, endless scrolling, algorithms built to keep kids glued to a screen. Those concerns are real. My first thought was different. What about our babies?For 20 years, I have worked at the Wisconsin Alliance for Infant Mental Health, a statewide nonprofit dedicated to supporting the earliest relationships in a child’s life. A big part of my job is reminding people that babies have mental health, too.The national nonprofit Zero to Three defines infant and early childhood mental health as a young child’s developing capacity, from birth to age 5, to experience, regulate and express emotions; form close and secure relationships; and explore and learn, all within the context of family, community and culture.Put simply, mental health is rooted in relationships, and our first relationships begin at birth, if not before.Babies don’t use Instagram. They do live inside relationships with adults who use it, and technology now sits right in the middle of those relationships. Parent well-being and infant well-being are tied together.Responsiveness is how babies learn they are safe and loved. Every glance, coo and answering smile builds the secure attachment that healthy development depends on. As devices demand more of our attention, that back-and-forth gets interrupted more often.Researchers call this “technoference.” Emerging research links frequent device interruptions to less responsive caregiving and to more trouble with behavioral and emotional regulation in young children. In experimental studies, infants become more distressed when a caregiver suddenly turns from them to a phone.Babies notice when the rhythm of connection breaks.None of us was prepared to raise children in this digital world. It changed faster than our knowledge, norms and supports could keep up, and most new parents were never taught what healthy technology use looks like while caring for a baby.Many are also raising children amid isolation, stress, depression or anxiety. For those parents, a phone can be a lifeline: a link to family, a telehealth visit, a support group at 3 a.m.So telling parents to put the phone down won’t solve this. Families need practical information, support for their own well-being, and help making intentional space for connection during the years when a child’s brain is rapidly developing.Wisconsin can support that. Dedicating 5% of the settlement to perinatal, infant and early childhood mental health would mean roughly $11 million to $15.6 million over 10 years, or about $1.1 million to $1.6 million a year. That investment could:Fund public education on healthy digital habits for families with babies and young children;Share resources with parents during pregnancy and the postpartum period;Train the home visitors, childcare providers, nurses and pediatric staff who work with babies, toddlers and their caregivers; andExpand access to specialized, high-quality treatment when a family with a young child needs it.The settlement already requires at least half of the money to go to youth mental health to address the harms of social media. Supporting the relationships where mental health begins fits squarely within that purpose.Wisconsin has a rare chance to respond to the harm children have already experienced and to prevent some of tomorrow’s. I hope you will join me in asking the Wisconsin Department of Justice to dedicate 5% of the Meta settlement to our youngest children. Write to dojcontact@wisdoj.gov and ask them to remember the babies.
Lana Shklyar Nenide is executive director of the Wisconsin Alliance for Infant Mental Health, a statewide nonprofit based in Middleton.Share your opinion on this topic by sending a letter to the editor to tctvoice@madison.com. Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less.
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