On Wednesday, a California jury ordered Meta, the owner of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp; and YouTube owner, Google, to pay $6 million to a 20-year-old woman who said her use of the social media platforms caused depression and anxiety. The day before, a New Mexico jury handed down a $375 million judgement against Meta for violating the state’s consumer protection law by failing to protect children from sexual exploitation and disclose its platforms are designed to be addictive.
The companies said they plan to appeal, but the rulings are encouraging to school officials who have complained about the addictive and sometimes harmful impact social media has on young people.
Mifflinburg Area Superintendent Dr. Ken Dady Jr. said the district is part of the of the class action lawsuit.
“At this point, we are in a wait and see how the rest of it plays out,” Dady said. “Even though some rulings have been made, how that translates to districts in resources or dollars is something I have not heard yet.”
Nearly all 17 school districts in the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit (CSIU) are participating in similar lawsuits against Meta and other social media companies for fueling the mental health crisis among youth that is driving up the cost of education, CSIU Chief Outreach Officer Bernadette Boerckel said.
Educators have for several years been “confronting the consequences of addictive social media use among students, raising serious concerns about whether these companies have been negligent in failing to adequately warn users, particularly youth, about the risks built into their platforms,” she said. “As a region, we have seen the collective impact of these algorithms on student behavior, attention, and well-being. Addressing these issues has required significant investments in safety and security upgrades to districts’ facilities and technology systems, as well as ongoing enhancements to curriculum, instruction, and professional development to address shifting learning habits and focus challenges.”
School districts have had to expand mental health services and staffing to support students, Boerckel said, prompting them to join the class-action suit at no cost to recover “substantial costs incurred as a result of these impacts.”
Midd-West School District has spent more than $250,000 every year since 2018 to address mental health issues of its students and has added a social worker and prevention specialist to the staff.
Said Midd-West Superintendent Joe Stroup of the district’s decision to engage in the lawsuit, “Public schools have long been on the front lines of the battle of complex societal issues. This specific issue has created greater shock to the system, more complex needs, and costlier solutions than anything ever prior. Therefore, although the problems are multifaceted, school districts need to be a part of the solution and any remedies toward those problems created.”
Danville Area School Superintendent Molly Nied agreed.
“We see firsthand how social media addiction contributes to rising rates of anxiety and depression, which creates significant barriers to learning. By participating, we are standing up for our students’ well-being and seeking to hold these platforms accountable for the mental health crisis that school districts are forced to manage daily,” she said. “Additionally, the lawsuit is a zero-cost opportunity to recoup taxpayer dollars.”
The Daily Item staff writers Rick Dandes and Justin Strawser contributed to this article.
© 2026 The Daily Item (Sunbury, Pa.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
