School District Sues Big Tech over Social Media Harm

[Mike Lavigne]

i posted this inspired by Marty's response to ddk's comment about his kids and streaming evil.....and did not want to further derail Ron's thread.

I understand your position. BTW, what kids listen to on their devices are MP3 files as you know, and is the 2nd reason (behind dopamine addiction) that iphones will be the demise of that entire generation.

if this is too political then i respect the mods might delete it. but reading this this morning on this local news feed i think it's a big issue. it will be interesting to see whether it will ever get actual judicial traction, and whether the School District has standing to file suit. sure; parents need to do a better job at parenting, but that ship has mostly sailed.......the genie is out of the bottle.

Seattle schools sue tech giants over social media harm

The public school district in Seattle has filed a novel lawsuit against the tech giants behind TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat.

komonews.com

 

[KeithR]

this reminds me of the video game war back in the 90s about causing violence - wasn't successful

 

[ddk]

i posted this inspired by Marty's response to ddk's comment about his kids and streaming evil.....and did not want to further derail Ron's thread.



if this is too political then i respect the mods might delete it. but reading this this morning on this local news feed i think it's a big issue. it will be interesting to see whether it will ever get actual judicial traction, and whether the School District has standing to file suit. sure; parents need to do a better job at parenting, but that ship has mostly sailed.......the genie is out of the bottle.

Seattle schools sue tech giants over social media harm

The public school district in Seattle has filed a novel lawsuit against the tech giants behind TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat.

komonews.com

I don't think it's about winning or losing Mike people are aware of the power imbalance in this war rather for raising awareness even if it's in a small group who care and standing up to those who want to force it on everyone.

david

 

[Gregadd]

What is the content that bothers them? I see a red herring. I need more info. Don't worry that public nuisance will publish the complaint and identify the people behind it. Until then I will keep an open mind.
Did they name Twitter? You know the free speech absolutist.
From te abov article.[ text omitted]
"SEATTLE — The public school district in Seattle has filed a novel lawsuit against the tech giants behind TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat, seeking to hold them accountable for the mental health crisis among youth."

 

[Fishfood]

What is the content that bothers them? I see a red herring. I need more info. Don't worry that public nuisance will publish the complaint and identify the people behind it. Until then I will keep an open mind.
Did they name Twitter? You know the free speech absolutist.
From te abov article.[ text omitted]
"SEATTLE — The public school district in Seattle has filed a novel lawsuit against the tech giants behind TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat, seeking to hold them accountable for the mental health crisis among youth."

It feels like shades of the opioid suit against Purdue and the Sacklers. A group of people that has something forced upon them that isn't good for them, in this case social media being super bad for kid's mental health.

Genie ain't going back in the bottle but I can attest as my wife has an educational business, the kids are different now. She blames it mostly on the parents but social media is an insidious beast.

 

[cjfrbw]

In the battle of the generations, it has always miffed the elders that the young don't heed their experience, wisdom and advice, rather go to extremes to irritate the elders with wayward opposites designed to enrage. Of course, how many adults are wise and honorable to begin with.

It is a strange fact that young people seek advice mostly from their peer groups, not parents or experienced older mentors, so they are always subject to the 'blind leading the blind' dictums. It's a cycle of the same mistakes being repeated generation after generation at cost.

If it isn't social media, it will be the the kid with the duck butt haircut and the pack of cigarettes rolled up in his shirtsleeve. I knew kids that grew up in Beverly Hills and Hillsborough, and many were crazy, went splat in various ways, no social media in those days.

 

[Fishfood]

In the battle of the generations, it has always miffed the elders that the young don't heed their experience, wisdom and advice, rather go to extremes to irritate the elders with wayward opposites designed to enrage. Of course, how many adults are wise and honorable to begin with.

It is a strange fact that young people seek advice mostly from their peer groups, not parents or experienced older mentors, so they are always subject to the 'blind leading the blind' dictums. It's a cycle of the same mistakes being repeated generation after generation at cost.

If it isn't social media, it will be the the kid with the duck butt haircut and the pack of cigarettes rolled up in his shirtsleeve. I knew kids that grew up in Beverly Hills and Hillsborough, and many were crazy, went splat in various ways, no social media in those days.

I don't think it's deniable that there's a mental health crisis among the youth. I was saying to my wife today that maybe it has a lot to do with the fact that everything has a label these days. No one just has a personality. They are on the spectrum or anxious or manic or something else. Not sure what "normal" is anymore. Not for me to decide since I'm old and it's not my world anymore.

 

[tima]

SEATTLE — The public school district in Seattle has filed a novel lawsuit against the tech giants behind TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat, seeking to hold them accountable for the mental health crisis among youth.

Pot calls kettle black.

 

[Fishfood]

Are you referring to the pot we barely pay and give no resources to? You might not agree with a lot of what you are hearing is going on in the classroom (true and not true stuff, I know because my family is full of educators) but fuck if anyone is going to treat them the way we treat corporate consultants or tech jobs that are what college kids are drawn to after graduation because of the pay and benefits and working conditions. Not to mention the constant criticism and made up BS. And the parents are the worst in most cases. You actually try to discipline a kid or fail them, which is their actual job, and they sue the school to fire you.

Fix this part of the kettle before criticizing it.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Pot calls kettle black.

the problem with commenting on what you are inferring is that it takes this from about 'kids' to about politics. which is why i did not go there with my original post. so i won't go there. keep it about kids.

 

[ctydwn]

this litigation is in its infancy (on behalf of public entities) and will likely become part of the larger federal MDL - multi district litigation - focused on more specific harms. Section 230 will be heard by the Supreme Crt in the coming months and may/will likely shape these cases trajectory.

 

[Tango]

the problem with commenting on what you are inferring is that it takes this from about 'kids' to about politics. which is why i did not go there with my original post. so i won't go there. keep it about kids.

I read the news link and felt it directed more toward getting compensated for
"making it more difficult to educate students; and forcing schools to take steps such as hiring additional mental health professionals, developing lesson plans about the effects of social media, and providing additional training to teachers."
The sueing was not about kids. Pity. The mindset.

 

[tima]

the problem with commenting on what you are inferring is that it takes this from about 'kids' to about politics. which is why i did not go there with my original post. so i won't go there. keep it about kids.

I'm familiar with how the phrase "it's about the kids" is used.

Your post directed us to an article about a school district suing tech corporates for money along with the comments to that article. The issue is bigger than how you want to limit speech about it as witnessed by those comments. Thinking that we must thread our way through a minefield in order to discuss how you want it discussed is a mistake.

 

[Gregadd]

It feels like shades of the opioid suit against Purdue and the Sacklers. A group of people that has something forced upon them that isn't good for them, in this case social media being super bad for kid's mental health.

Genie ain't going back in the bottle but I can attest as my wife has an educational business, the kids are different now. She blames it mostly on the parents but social media is an insidious beast.

Opioids are prescribed by a doctor. Even if you get it illegally you have to seek it out. Addiction aside. Social media is voluntary. Most people pay for the privilege.

 

[Fishfood]

Is it voluntary? Do you have kids that are young right now? Cuz it ain't voluntary unless you want to sit home alone. We finally had to get our children social media accounts (we watched them carefully) because they had no idea what their friends were doing otherwise. It's not like kids call each other and say "hey, do you want to come over" anymore.

 

[WBF Team]

If people want to continue to discuss this they have to avoid discussing politics which is a violation of the terms of service.

 

[Fishfood]

Sorry. I was trying to keep it theoretical. I'll step away from the convo.

 

[Gregadd]

Is it voluntary? Do you have kids that are young right now? Cuz it ain't voluntary unless you want to sit home alone. We finally had to get our children social media accounts (we watched them carefully) because they had no idea what their friends were doing otherwise. It's not like kids call each other and say "hey, do you want to come over" anymore.

I hope this is not political. I have a niece and nephew who do not have a smartphone or unsupervised access to social media.

 

[Gregadd]

Furthermore, as a reult of efforts they are both in gifted and talented class.

 

[PeterA]

Is it voluntary? Do you have kids that are young right now? Cuz it ain't voluntary unless you want to sit home alone. We finally had to get our children social media accounts (we watched them carefully) because they had no idea what their friends were doing otherwise. It's not like kids call each other and say "hey, do you want to come over" anymore.

Actually that is exactly what my kids do. They call their friends and they get together physically and spend time together. Sure they make plans from their telephones, but they prefer to get together with their friends and hang out. They do participate in some social media but it is very little.

We just went on vacation with them and my 21 year old daughter turned her phone off for seven days. The other one hardly looked at her phone except to make plans for New Year’s Eve when she returned to the city. She just graduated from college and is working in NYC where they have very strict rules against social media. This is voluntary and it is a choice.

I think This stuff depends on values in the home and what is taught by the parents. My two kids were also at schools where there were very strict rules against social media all the way until college, at least during school hours. For my kids, their phones are a tool. I’m not saying this is the same for all kids because I see how others are affected.