School boards seek damages for disruption to student
learning and the education system
TORONTO, March 28, 2024 /CNW/ - Today, Toronto
District School Board (TDSB), Peel District School Board
(PDSB), Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB), and
Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) have commenced
legal action against tech giants Meta Platforms Inc. (Facebook and
Instagram), Snap Inc. (SnapChat), and ByteDance Ltd. (TikTok) for
disrupting student learning and the education system. The
lawsuit claims that social media products, negligently designed for
compulsive use, have rewired the way children think, behave, and
learn, leaving educators and schools to manage the
fallout.
Students are experiencing an attention, learning, and mental
health crisis because of prolific and compulsive use of social
media products. The fall out of compulsive use of social
media amongst students is causing massive strains on the four
school boards' finite resources, including additional needs for
in-school mental health programming and personnel, increased IT
costs, and additional administrative resources. Collectively, the
boards are advancing claims in excess of four billion dollars. This action calls on social
media giants to remediate these enormous costs to the education
system, to redesign their products to keep students safe.
Neinstein LLP, a Toronto-based
boutique litigation firm, has been retained by the aforementioned
school boards to represent them in their fight for social media
change. The goal of the litigation is to provide school boards with
the resources needed to support student programming and services,
and to respond to the school-based problems social media giants
have caused. School boards will not be responsible for any costs
related to the lawsuit unless a successful outcome is reached.
To learn more about the lawsuit and to follow developments,
please visit the Schools for Social Media Change Alliance at
https://schoolboardsforchange.ca.
Quotes
"The influence of social media on today's youth at school cannot
be denied. It leads to pervasive problems such as distraction,
social withdrawal, cyberbullying, a rapid escalation of aggression,
and mental health challenges. Therefore, it is imperative that we
take steps to ensure the well-being of our youth. We are calling
for measures to be implemented to mitigate these harms and
prioritize the mental health and academic success of our future
generation." - Colleen
Russell-Rawlins, Director of Education, Toronto District
School Board
"There has been growing concern for years about the effect of
social media on students' development, mental health, safety and
emotional well-being. Urgent action is needed to protect students
from further harm. That is why we have come together in bringing
action against social media giants to make their products safer
while addressing the disruptions they are causing to our
educational mandate." - Rashmi
Swarup, Director of Education, Peel District School
Board
"Fostering a nurturing environment of learning is critical to
student success and stands at the heart of our educational mission.
Yet, the intricately crafted and inherently addictive nature of
social media platforms can hamper a students' capacity to absorb
knowledge. Social media has an undeniable toll on student mental
health which cannot be overlooked. In the absence of effective
measures from the architects of these digital platforms, our
educators find themselves increasingly involved in mitigating
social media-induced matters, diverting precious time away from
academic instruction." - Brendan
Browne, Director of Education, Toronto Catholic District
School Board
"As the largest school board in Eastern Ontario, we are committed to the
well-being of our students. The crisis caused by social media
giants is putting children and youths at risk. Our students,
society's next generation of leaders, deserve better." -
Pino Buffone, Director of Education,
Ottawa-Carleton District School Board
"A strong education system is the foundation of our society and
our community. Social media products and the changes in behaviour,
judgement and attention that they cause pose a threat to that
system and to the student population our schools serve. We
are proud to support our schools and students in this litigation
with the goal of holding social media giants accountable and
creating meaningful change." - Duncan
Embury, Partner, Head of Litigation, Neinstein
About Schools for Social
Media Change
Schools for Social Media Change is a concerned group of
school boards, Canadian leaders and organizations working together
to strengthen our students' fundamental right to education.
Social media products, designed for compulsive use, have rewired
the way children think, behave, and learn. Our schools are
unfairly bearing the brunt of the learning and mental health
epidemic caused by the negligent conduct of social media companies.
The school boards listed on schoolsboardsforchange.ca have
commenced legal action against social media giants for this
disruption to student learning and the education
system.
SOURCE Schools for Social Media Change