Social media has been a boon to society, offering instant personal communication and widespread relay of thoughts and ideas.
The different social media are worldwide with over six billion users and have allowed online commerce to flourish. Thousands of businesses and individuals either augment income or make a living on these sites, selling or being paid to push products.
The downside of social media has been discussed and re-discussed with disgust at the lack of government action.
Four large Ontario school boards have taken the bull by the horns and filed a lawsuit against four popular social media — Facebook, Instagram, Snap-Chat and Tik Tok.
[Actually], they are not the first with lawsuits.
Around 200 United States school districts have sued social media owners for their harmful impact on young people.
To say that social media is addictive is an understatement.
Adults and young people alike seem unable to stay off these sites since linking to them.
The Toronto District School, Board, the Toronto Catholic District School Board, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and the Peel District School Board total claims are for $4.5 billion to work on the harms created by the addiction.
Most important they want the sites redesigned to keep students safe. They accuse social-media companies of “exploitative business practices” choosing to “maximize profits” at the expense of students’ mental health and well-being.
Teachers spend more classroom time trying to have students focus on their lessons due to the addiction to social media, according to the lawsuit.
And compulsive use of social-media platforms has also strained limited school board resources: Schools require additional mental health programs and personnel. Staff spend more time addressing aggressive behaviour and cyberbullying.
School costs for information-technology services and cybersecurity have increased.
Many of the American lawsuits are a year old stuck in legal limbo. The Ontario boards found a lawyer willing to pursue the suit just for a share of any award.
The unfolding of this and other lawsuits will be interesting to watch.
Harm caused by social media to youngsters also impacts their families.
A recent online list of comments about youngsters aged seven to 12 by older siblings on the use of smart phones leaves one alarmed for the future.
One of the most telling comments claimed a younger brother was out of touch with the world except for his own experiences on the phone.
Another sibling said it was sad their brother has no face-to-face friends, only online ones.
One said his parents just let the phone be a babysitter. Others worried their sisters had become obsessed with weight, skin care and cosmetics because of influences on social media.
No attention span was another comment. Another said his brother’s doctor ordered him to go outside and get some fresh air.
Some noted siblings become grouchy when they have to put the phone down.
One worried about the pressure on his sibling to meet online standards and fit into peer groups.
None mentioned online bullying.
Florida just passed a law banning anyone under 14 from having a social media link.
In China where Tik Tok was invented government pressure caused Tik Tok to restrict time online by those under 18 years on the addictive site and to develop a youth-oriented site.
The school boards’ lawsuit is as close to a grass roots uprising as we can get.
Ron Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
