Bedford County Board of Education voted recently to join other school systems across the state and country in a class action lawsuit against social media companies like Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.
It costs nothing to join the class action lawsuit and any compensation, school board members noted, could be years away. But the most important thing is to send a message that Bedford County Public School System does not support any type of abuse toward young children and teens.
Dozens of school districts in the country are suing Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, SnapChat and Youtube for their impact on children. A 91-page complaint by Seattle Public Schools, the first to sue, says the companies have contributed to a youth mental health crisis.
In a statement, the Greenville S.C., County School board said they believe the social media giants have engaged in “intentional practices that have targeted vulnerable students.”
Last spring, United States Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy released a new Surgeon General’s Advisory on Social Media and Youth Mental Health. While social media may offer some benefits, there are ample indicators that social media can also pose a risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents, he reported.
The report also states that social media use by young people is nearly universal, with up to 95% of young people ages 13-17 reporting using a social media platform and more than a third saying they use social media “almost constantly.”
With adolescence and childhood representing a critical stage in brain development that can make young people more vulnerable to harms from social media, the Surgeon General issued a call for urgent action by policymakers, technology companies, researchers, families, and young people alike to gain a better understanding of the full impact of social media use, maximize the benefits and minimize the harms of social media platforms, and create safer, healthier online environments to protect children.
“The most common question parents ask me is, ‘is social media safe for my kids’. The answer is that we don't have enough evidence to say it's safe, and in fact, there is growing evidence that social media use is associated with harm to young people’s mental health,” said the U.S. Surgeon. “Children are exposed to harmful content on social media, ranging from violent and sexual content, to bullying and harassment. And for too many children, social media use is compromising their sleep and valuable in-person time with family and friends.
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