The Quakertown Community School District is joining more than 300 districts across the country in a lawsuit against social media companies.
School board members approved the move at their final meeting of the school year.
The litigation contends companies like TikTok, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram are ignoring the harmful mental health effects on children and calls on them to cease their damaging actions. Plaintiffs plan to use any damages to fund treatment programs.
District counsel Jeffrey Garton said success in the lawsuit would not bring about any immediate changes to the sites; that, he acknowledged, would have to come at the legislative level.
Nonetheless, director Chris Spear was optimistic. “Typically when you sue somebody for large sums of money it causes them to self-regulate at some point. Hopefully, there will be some positive outcomes.”
Departing district Superintendent Bill Harner later revealed Quakertown Community School District would receive more than $100,000 from a previous suit against vaping manufacturer Juul Labs, which settled for $1.2 billion in 2022. The district asserted the company was a catalyst for the nationwide youth vaping crisis and noted it had to divert considerable resources to combat the problem at Strayer and the high school.
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