Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) joined almost 1,000 other school districts throughout the country to demand social media changes in an effort to combat rising mental health problems among young people.
Frantz Law Group in California began litigation on behalf of school districts against Facebook, TikTok, Snap, YouTube and other companies, alleging that they have caused a mental health crisis among children and teenagers.
MCPS Spokesperson Jessica Baxter said the school district has joined the lawsuit but would not comment on “pending litigation.”
According to the Frantz Law Group, “Our goal in this litigation is to not only hold these companies accountable but also obtain the necessary funding for districts for prevention education and mental health services.”
The law firms’s news release stated, “Many children and teenagers spend an inordinate amount of time scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and other social media platforms, where they are subjected to often harmful and exploitative content that encourages disordered eating, unhealthy social comparison, and cyberbullying.”
The U.S. Surgeon General declared a national advisory on the youth mental health crisis, linking it in part to social media. The Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) national youth risk behavior survey reported that the rate of teen depression rose by more than 60% between 2011 and 2018.
“Ultimately, students performing worse in school, are less likely to attend school, are more likely to engage in substance use and to act out, all of which directly affects school districts’ ability to fulfill its educational mission,” according to the news release on the law firm’s website.
