Over the past three years, Frantz Law Group attorneys and staff have been working tirelessly representing your district as well as nearly 1000 school districts across the country against JUUL Labs, Altria, and others, to hold them accountable for the youth vaping epidemic that is impacting our nation. As a result of these efforts, in December 2022, a proposed settlement was reached with JUUL Labs and its founders, directors, and board members. You can read further about the proposed settlement at this link: 

JUUL agrees to pay $1.2 billion in youth-vaping settlement – Bloomberg News | Reuters

While we continue our litigation against Altria and others for the vaping epidemic, there is another challenge being faced by school districts that need to be addressed now and this is the mental health crisis among students that has been caused by social media companies.

The United States surgeon general has declared a national advisory on the youth mental health crisis, blaming social media, in part, for the growing number of youth experiencing depression, anxiety, and other mental health challenges. You can read the full report HERE. The CDC National Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that the rate of teen depression rose by more than 60% between 2011 and 2018.

Frances Haugen, a former Facebook product manager, testified before congress and revealed internal research by Facebook that showed the company was aware of how harmful their programs are to the mental health of child users, teenage girls in particular. However, they chose profits over the mental health of their users. You can read Ms. Haugen’s full statement to Congress HERE. 

Frantz Law Group has commenced litigation on behalf of school districts against Facebook, TikTok, Snap, YouTube as well as other social media companies. This lawsuit alleges that these companies have caused a mental health crisis among children and teenagers that is marked by higher proportions of anxiety, depression, and thoughts of self-harm, all of which severely affect their ability to succeed in school.

Many children and teenagers spend an inordinate amount of time scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and other social media platforms, where they are subjected to often harmful and exploitative content that encourages disordered eating, unhealthy social comparison, and cyberbullying.

As a result of this harmful content, students are experiencing anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. Ultimately, students performing worse in school, are less likely to attend school, are more likely to engage in substance use and to act out, all of which directly affects school districts’ ability to fulfill its educational mission.

Our goal in this litigation is to not only hold these companies accountable but also obtain the necessary funding for districts for prevention education and mental health services.