South Bend Community School Corporation joins litigation against social media companies

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The South Bend Community School Corporation unanimously decided tonight to join Michiana schools in a litigation against social media companies. 

In August 2023, Concord, Elkhart and Mishawaka community schools joined a lawsuit, spearheaded by Wagstaff and Cartmell, against major social media companies: Facebook, Twitter, Tik Tok and Snap Chat, arguing that addictive social media is harmful to students. 

This follows the May 23, 2023 report from U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy's Surgeon General Advisory on Social Media and Youth Mental Health that social media is harmful to the brain development of children and adolescents. 

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Murthy wrote: 

"Adolescents may experience heightened emotional sensitivity to the communicative and interactive nature of social media. Adolescent social media use is predictive of a subsequent decrease in life satisfaction for certain developmental stages including for girls 11–13 years old and boys 14–15 years old. Because adolescence is a vulnerable period of brain development, social media exposure during this period warrants additional scrutiny."

Children, ages 10-19, go through a "highly sensitive period in brain development," he writes, affecting behavior, depression, self-esteem and peer compassion. 

With nearly 40 percent of U.S. children, ages 8-12 using social media, and 95 percent of youth, ages 13-17 on social media platforms, according to Dr. Murthy's findings, most U.S. youth are at risk. 

The South Bend Community School Corporation has seen significant problems with student use of social media. 

Their main concern: to make a decision in the best interest of the education and well-being of their students in order for them to thrive.