Lake Central board votes to join multi-district lawsuit targeting social-media harms to students

The Lake Central School Corporation board voted Aug. 3 to join a multi-district lawsuit against major social-media companies aimed at curbing harms to student mental health and behavior.

"So for those reasons, I'm recommending that Lake Central join this multi district litigation," said Castaneda, who urged the board that joining would require only modest staff time to pull discipline and counseling data and would cost the district nothing unless a settlement produced funds. Castaneda said the suit targets platforms students use frequently, including "Snapchat, Meta, and a couple of the others."

Board member Dr. Malco moved to approve the resolution; Miss Taylor seconded the motion. Chair called for the vote and members answered "Aye"; the motion passed.

Castaneda said the district could use any recovery to expand counseling, investigative administrative time or student-education programs, but emphasized the litigation's broader goal: to press companies to strengthen age limits and reduce algorithmic features she said encourage compulsive use by students. The superintendent cited research showing links between heavy social-media use and depression, anxiety and sleep disruption.

The board did not specify which outside law firm would represent the district or set a timeline for data collection; Castaneda said the district would provide general discipline and counseling logs to the lead firm. The motion's approval directs staff to proceed with the resolution and related data requests.

The board did not debate a fiscal appropriation to join — Castaneda said legal expenses would be paid from any recovery and that, if the litigation failed, the district would not be assessed costs.