Protecting youth
Virginia has laws protecting minors in the physical world. My 11-year-old cannot buy a bottle of vodka or cigarettes, drive a vehicle or purchase a long gun. Why does Virginia not similarly protect youth in the online world, where predatory individuals know children are even more vulnerable?
The App Store Accountability Act addresses these issues. It has already passed in Texas, Utah and Louisiana, enshrining several measures.
The act requires parental permission before minors can agree to apps’ terms of service contracts. Minors currently enter into contracts when they download apps and check all boxes that allow them to begin using the app. In the physical world, minors don’t enter into contracts without parental consent.
The act requires accurate age ratings for apps. Look in the app store and find Roblox (age 12 plus), Discord (17 plus), Instagram (12 plus) and TikTok (12 plus). Who determines these age ratings? Currently, app developers create an app and decide what rating to give themselves. Movie directors do not rate their own films. The app store, not the app creators, should assign apps an age rating.
The act requires age verification at the app store level. Parents and children would verify the child’s age when setting up accounts with Apple or Google Play, not repeatedly for each individual app. Teens use an average of 40 apps per week. Why give out sensitive data to 40 different apps when this can be done one time?
Parents are overwhelmed. The digital world is a vast unknown. This solution is common sense.
Amy Stevens, Yorktown
School tax
Can we please stop the nonsense of the proposed “tiny” up to 1% tax for schools being pushed by Democrats. They claim it is to “help the children” to build new schools. Blah. Blah. Blah.
Yet, school populations are dropping. Norfolk alone has lost thousands of students in recent years, while its budget has increased dramatically. School officials are trying to close underutilized buildings but meeting resistance. Virginia Beach, depending on the source, has lost 8-15% of its students but its budget is also soaring.
Now the Democrats want more money? How many people will say, “well, I don’t mind giving a little more for the children.” You should mind. Ask what the school systems are actually doing with the money they have while serving far fewer students.
Michele Baird, Virginia Beach
West Neck Villages
The West Neck Villages, an age-restricted community of 934 homes, together with the Indian River Plantation, were developed by Dickie Foster. As part of the development approval process from the city of Virginia Beach, it was necessary for him to develop adequate recreational space, resulting in the creation of the Arnold Palmer signature golf course.
In 2006, the city of Virginia Beach purchased the former TPC golf course for $4.5 million and assumed management of Heron Ridge golf course, preserving two high-quality courses for the community. The city of Virginia Beach should renovate the TPC clubhouse, but refrain from building housing on the property.
The Arnold Palmer-designed golf course property was sold to WC Capital LLC for $2.3 million in 2019. The current developer, in partnership with investors led by a local professional golfer Marc Leishman, plans to construct a nine-hole golf course with an indoor/outdoor practice facility. In addition, approximately 145 new homes will be built. Residents have voiced concerns for some time about property maintenance, which this development project aims to address. Additionally, this project will add a needed valuable tourist-oriented golf amenity to Virginia Beach, satisfying the original reason why many residents purchased their homes in the community.
The proposal enjoys strong support from the West Neck Villages residents and should be endorsed by the city’s planning committee and City Council. It aligns with the interests of residents, a developer and professional golfers — a mutual win-win-win outcome.
David N. Camaione, Virginia Beach
