Escambia County Public Schools suing social media companies over mental health effects on students

Wear News | by Wear Staff | October 23, 2023

PENSACOLA, Fla. — Escambia County Public Schools is taking a stand against social media companies.

The district alleges that Meta, Snap, TikTok, Google, and YouTube cause harmful addictions that are creating a youth mental health crisis for which schools are bearing unprecedented costs.

Attorney Emmie Paulos with Levin Papantonio Rafferty, who is leading the case, joined WEAR News live on Monday.

“The schools are seeing various kinds of impact,” she said. “They’re seeing economic impact — they have to get more resources. They have to get more counselors to help with the mental health crisis. They need to educate students about social media — excessive use and why it’s harmful. They need to educate students, they need to educate the teachers as well on how to handle this increase and influx of behavioral issues as a result of social media.”

Paulos says the district wants the the social media companies to be held accountable.

They also want funding to help the school create long-term strategies to address the growing mental health issues associated with social media use.

“As we know, excessive social media use results in detrimental impacts on the mental well being, sleeping patterns, emotional health of students — and schools are being impacted by this firsthand,” Paulos said.

Paulos says this case and many others across the country will be heard in a California court.