CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The Clarksville-Montgomery County School System has now been joined by over 30 other Tennessee school systems in a lawsuit against social media companies, seeking protections for students.
The lawsuits seek “actionable accountability, tools and resources to address the lack of protections, monitors, controls and cooperation to protect children,” according to a news release Tuesday from Frantz Law Group in California, working with Lewis Thomason in Tennessee. Companies in the lawsuit include:
- Meta
- TikTok
- Snapchat
- YouTube
The suits, with CMCSS filing as the first Tennessee district in May 2023, now include multiple systems, including Shelby County Schools (Memphis), the largest public school system in the state.
Problems statewide
“The concern about the lack of proper protections and the negative impacts on children who use social media is clearly an important issue for school systems across the state,” Lewis Thomason attorney Chris McCarty said in the release. “Hundreds of thousands of students are represented by these school systems, which amplifies the demands to social media giants.”
The boards of all 33 school systems in the Tennessee social media litigation voted to join the lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, they include:
- Anderson County Schools
- Bedford County Schools
- Bledsoe County Schools
- Blount County Schools
- Cannon County Schools
- Claiborne County Schools
- Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools
- Collierville Schools
- Cumberland County Schools
- Fentress County Schools
- Grainger County Schools
- Greene County Schools
- Greeneville City Schools
- Hamblen County Schools
- Humphreys County Schools
- Johnson City Schools
- Johnson County Schools
- Knox County Schools
- Lenoir City Schools
- Lincoln County Schools
- Loudon County Schools
- Maryville City Schools
- Metro Nashville Public Schools
- Oak Ridge City Schools
- Oneida Special School District
- Putnam County Schools
- Sevier County Schools
- Shelby County Schools
- Stewart County Schools
- Sullivan County Schools
- Van Buren County Schools
- Warren County Schools
- Wilson County Schools
“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,” said William Shinoff, an attorney with the Frantz Law Group. “These media giants have an opportunity – and a responsibility – to protect children.”
Impact at CMCSS
Schools Director Dr. Jean Luna-Vedder has previously said that over the years, the school system has observed a rise in mental health issues throughout their district. She cited examples such as threats of school violence, cyberbullying, inappropriate content, and other challenges are linked to the lack of protections and controls throughout social media platforms.
The problems came to a head in the fall of 2021 when over 50 students were suspended from one school over one Tik Tok challenge, and another challenge caused tens of thousands in property damage to school buildings.
In November that year, the 50 students were suspended at West Creek High School after a video showing students raising their hands or phones simulating a weapon went viral on Tik Tok. The video gained almost 500,000 likes before it was made private by the video’s creator – a sophomore at the school.
In September 2021, a Tik Tok challenge that encouraged students to steal or destroy property led to over $20,000 worth of damage to Clarksville-Montgomery County school buildings.
“Without cooperation and support from social media companies,” Luna-Vedder said, “CMCSS has been fighting an uphill battle. We need to protect our children, our schools and our society.”
Correction: Cleveland City Schools, Crockett County Schools and Manchester City Schools have not joined the lawsuit. The article has been updated.