WAYNESBORO – The effects of social media on Waynesboro students inside and outside of the classroom has the Waynesboro School Board considering action.
The “significant harm” to students’ mental health caused by social media “designed to encourage addiction and excessive use” is the stated reason for the potential lawsuit up for the board’s consideration on Tuesday.
The resolution cites U.S. Surgeon General advisory on the effects social media use has on youth mental health issued last year.
“The most common question parents ask me is, ‘is social media safe for my kids’. The answer is that we don’t have enough evidence to say it’s safe, and in fact, there is growing evidence that social media use is associated with harm to young people’s mental health,” wrote U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy. “Children are exposed to harmful content on social media, ranging from violent and sexual content, to bullying and harassment. And for too many children, social media use is compromising their sleep and valuable in-person time with family and friends. We are in the middle of a national youth mental health crisis, and I am concerned that social media is an important driver of that crisis – one that we must urgently address.”