By David Fleet
Editor
Goodrich — On Monday night the Goodrich School Board voted 7-0 to join nationwide litigation against Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Tik Tok and other social media platforms, asserting the companies targeted minors to maximize profits despite knowing the severe detrimental effects social media use causes to minors.
California-based Frantz Law Group, will represent schools statewide on a contingency fee basis, which means they will not charge fees unless there is a financial recovery. The same law group represented Goodrich along with hundreds of other districts in the recent vaping litigation.
“We are trying to bring out awareness,” said Mike Baszler, district superintendent.
Goodrich along with other districts in the county will enter in the lawsuit if they have had any damage to the district including bathrooms, added Baszler.
“We were having vandalism issues and they were TikTok challenges,” he said. “I saw the videos associated with it. It’s not a Goodrich thing, rather it’s a county wide, nation thing, we are a small part of it.”
They are going after all the social media sites that are targeting minors, he said.
Research confirms that social media use is associated with increased rates of depression, anxiety, eating disorders, suicide, and property damage.
“We recognize the impact (social media) has on our youth,” said Baszler. “At school and home, there are physical damages and property. The TikTok Challenge going through schools the last couple of years was real.”
Baszler referenced videos of students destroying school bathrooms and it happened at Goodrich.
“We had more than $9,000 damage to bathrooms,” he said. “The concern is TikTok is not shutting them down, it went on for months.”