School districts in Utah are joining a growing wave of lawsuits in federal and state courts against social media giants, arguing in their cases that emotional and mental health issues caused by social media have put a financial strain on schools.
Students work during a class at Butler Middle School on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. Canyons School District, which includes Butler, joined a growing wave of lawsuits against social media giants last month.
She decided to ban student cellphone use during school hours in 2018 — and saw the school’s environment change. “Even through the pandemic years, we’ve had better focus in our classrooms, kids are on task,” said Logan. “That helped us to continue to move the dial and improve academic outcomes in our building.”
Canyons, where Logan now serves as director of federal and state programs, sued the social media giants last month. The district has spent time and resources developing social media policies for school-issued laptops, for instance, Logan said. The computers block most social media sites even when students are at home, while policies for cellphone use during the school day are left up to each school.
“American youth are facing possibly the most severe mental health crisis in history,” federal complaints filed by Salt Lake City and Weber school districts state. “The major social media platforms ... have spent millions to develop and market their products to minors, keeping them coming back for more, and significantly contributing to this mental health crisis.
The school districts “cannot keep up with the increased need for mental health services due to the youth mental health crisis,” the federal complaints state. Each “requires significantly greater and long-term funding to address the nuisance Defendants have created.”
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