The District 204 Board of Education (BOE) has decided to participate in the joint litigation against Meta Platforms Inc., Facebook Holdings LLC, Snap Inc., Tik Tok Inc., and Alphabet Inc. Other parties that are responsible for using targeted design and marketing of youth algorithms are also involved, according to the Board of Education. 

The BOE is seeking relief damages related to the negative impact experienced by students due to the increase and extensive use of social media apps, President of the BOE Dawn Aubert said.

The state of Illinois is partnering with Frantz Law Group in California on this nationwide lawsuit, which involves more than 355 U.S. public school districts across 11 states including a number of LT’s neighboring school districts. 

“The District 204 Board of Education is interested in participating in the social media litigation because, on a national basis, we see the negative impacts of social media on adolescents, but we also see that play out in our school community at LT,” Superintendent Brian Waterman said. “Whether it be students posting harmful content on social media or students being adversely affected from a social emotional perspective, it is important that we support students and combat the negative impacts of social media.”

After reviewing all the information, the Board officially approved participation in the case on Sept. 18. District 204 hopes to earn a monetary settlement to enhance district resources, he said. This would include utilizing the funds for student services, which includes mental health and social emotional programming to help students. 

“Social media apps, especially Tik Tok, reduce attention span,” physics teacher Janice Lonnroth said. “The idea of scrolling and not having to click on something to move on to the next thing, makes the behavior that much more addicting.”

At this point, the litigation is at its early stages and the process of the trial and exact monetary or non-monetary benefits are not known. 

“Our hope is that through the litigation, the companies will modify their use of targeting youth through their algorithms and be held accountable to make platforms safe for minors,” she said.

Schools across the country are growing concerned for youth mental health and are realizing that social media affects a student’s mental health but also their education and social life in and out of school, she said