SCHOOLS’ SOCIAL MEDIA LAWSUIT NOT NECESSARILY THE ANSWER

Hamilton County is not yet one of the 36 Tennessee school districts that recently filed lawsuits against social media companies demanding accountability and action, but parents of local students who have been hurt in some way by posts on such platforms may put pressure on the district to do so.

The 36 districts involved so far range across the state, but the closest to Hamilton County is Bledsoe County. The Clarksville-Montgomery County district was the first to file suit, and Knox County and Shelby County — the state’s largest system — also have filed.

California-based Frantz Law Group, working with the Tennessee-based Lewis Thomason firm, is managing the suits. Plaintiffs could gain financially if the suits are successful but would have no expense if they are not. Any legal fees in case of a win would come from the plaintiff’s share of a settlement.

We sympathize with parents and school systems who have seen the presence of social media disrupt classes, cause mental health concerns and even raise safety threats. We are sure every teacher and every parent can cite at least one incident in which social media played a detrimental role.

However, the United States Supreme Court is currently wrangling with several cases that center on the free speech aspect of the platforms. And in recent oral arguments, even the conservative majority members were skeptical about limiting what can be posted. So the long range prospects of silencing social media platforms from what may seem to some like dangerous or hurtful posts may be limited.

With that said, we do believe there are actions that social media platforms, as well as states, school districts and parents, can take to limit the problems.

It must start with parents, who should strictly limit their children’s social media usage until they believe their children are mature enough to handle what they’re likely to encounter. We’re not referring to an age of physical maturity because that differs from person to person. We’re referring, instead, to an age when they’re better able to understand the complex feelings one person may have about another.

Yes, we hear you. That might be 18 or 48 or 78, or never. Still, parents are the key. If they have done the hard work of giving their children the tools to help them navigate the vulnerable world between childhood and adult, it’s not likely they’ll have trouble with social media.

But limits on usage should be considered by both parents and schools.

The Hamilton County Board of Education cellphone policy, for instance, forbids students to take photos or record videos of any kind on school grounds. Students in kindergarten through fifth grade are not allowed to use cellphones at all during school hours, while students in grades 6 through 12 are allowed to use them only with teacher approval.

Various types of parental controls are available on devices, but they’re not effective if they’re not used. And we think it is incumbent on social media platforms to continue working on additional controls and to offer — similar to a la carte selections of streaming channels — controls that might limit, say, “R”-rated content, content with foul language, content with nudity, content with violence, etc.

We also think the platforms should concern themselves with educating their audiences as to what their content may be doing. Perhaps, for example, screens might pop up to inform users how long they have been on a social media site, or to tell them from time to time that searching a wide variety of information sources is important to have a well rounded education about a subject, or to warn them against the effects of cyberbullying, or of the importance to know the person with whom they’re corresponding.

Those kind of things are what the lawsuits against, among others, Meta, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Google, WhatsApp and YouTube, purport to be seeking. A news release terms what is being sought as “actionable accountability, tools and resources to address the lack or protections, monitors, controls and cooperation to protect children.”

“Controls for student access to these platforms combined with helpful resources have the potential to help parents, teachers and students as they navigate social media,” William Shinoff, an attorney with the Frantz Law Group, was quoted as saying by the Kingsport Times News. “These media giants have an opportunity — and a responsibility — to protect children.”

Whether Hamilton County joins the lawsuit, which we think has a dubious chance of succeeding, we think the social media companies themselves, as well as districts and parents, ought to double down on what they can do to make the platforms, and students’ experience with those platforms, safer.