ALAMANCE COUNTY, N.C. — The Alamance-Burlington School System (ABSS) Board of Education members have voted unanimously to join other North Carolina school districts in a social media lawsuit, announced in Tuesday's board meeting.
The lawsuit involves more than 200 districts across the U.S., suing top social media companies responsible for apps including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat.
During a presentation, Attorney Janet Black said research shows students are experiencing anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues from social media. She said additional studies show students are more likely to perform worse in school and display disruptive behaviors due to their online activity.
Black said the litigation aims to improve parental controls on social media sites.
"The companies are able to control what people see; we just want it to be controlled for good things," she said, "We want real parental controls where parents can monitor what their students are viewing in addition to true age verification. It's very easy on some social media sites just to put a fake birthday, and you can access it."
A recent study said nearly half of all parents in the U.S. are worried social media has led to mental health issues in their children.
One ABSS parent believes the pressure of social media can be dangerous to a young mind.
"Kids aren't mature enough in the younger ages," Mandy Campbell said, "Middle school is hard enough without adding extra pressure and a universal scope."
Officials said other North Carolina school districts who have joined the lawsuit include Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Cumberland County, Pitt County, Rockingham County, and Union County, among others.
The case for each school district will be presented to a judge in California.
In a statement, ABSS Acting Superintendent Dr. Kristy Davis said, "We are seeing the negative impacts of social media on our students every day, especially at the middle and high school levels."
You may remember we told you about the district removing mirrors in a school bathroom due to a popular TikTok trend.
We plan to follow this lawsuit as it plays out.
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