Two South Carolina school districts—Fort Mill Schools and the Clover School District—are among the latest to take aim at social media companies for their negative impact on students. The lawsuit targets Meta (which owns Facebook and Instagram), TikTok, Snapchat and Google, which owns YouTube.

“We’re hopeful that this will maybe help some of these companies put in some extra safeguards for kids,” Chief Communication Officer of Fort Mill Schools Joe Burke told WCNC. “We heard last night that a lot of kids on this platform are in the 8 to 12 range which shouldn’t even be on those platforms.”

Also this week, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a new mental health advisory addressing social media use and its effects on youth mental health.

“We are in the middle of a national youth mental health crisis, and I am concerned that social media is an important driver of that crisis—one that we must urgently address,” Murthy said in a statement.

While social media poses a clear and immediate threat to students, as the headlines suggest, do school districts stand a chance in their fight to reduce the risk?

Dr. Aaron Saiger, professor of law at Fordham University, says their chances may be slim.

“I am not optimistic about the success of these lawsuits,” he says. “Many, many products have adverse effects on children that create costs for schools. These costs include, but are not limited to, mental health problems for students. Without making any claims about relative magnitude, products that come immediately to mind include television shows, phones, sugary foods, sneakers and music. All of these products arguably harm children but also bring value—which includes enjoyment—to their users.”

He adds that we’ve seen these heightened states of fear and “moral panic” before surrounding new behaviors and technologies that young children take a liking to.

“TV shows, rock music and video games have all been viewed by adults as a scourge that needed to be stopped lest they destroy children and childhood,” he says. “In earlier periods, these conflicts played out over genres like films and even novels. This is not to deny that new kinds of entertainment often do create new problems. They do. But they also create value that hidebound adults cannot—or do not want—to see.”

That being said, he doesn’t think the lawsuits are “preposterous.” If a company produces a potentially harmful product and doesn’t take measures to mitigate the negative effects it has on its audience, they’re responsible for it.

“A company is liable for placing a dangerous product on the market if it failed to take reasonable steps to mitigate the danger its products pose, or if its product is so ‘inherently’ dangerous that the dangers vastly outweigh whatever compensating value it offers,” he explains. “My lay understanding of social media is that it is not the latter; social media provides an enormous value to many people, including children.”

“I do not know whether there are ways to mitigate the bad effects of social media on children that would be realistically achievable and reasonably effective,” he adds. “For example, could companies actually enforce minimum age requirements, and would that help mental health? If there are such steps, social media companies would be wise to take them. But such steps, to be reasonably effective in this context, cannot destroy the value of the product.”

More from DA: By the numbers: The pandemic and its ‘complicated’ toll on K12 education

Another complex element is the idea that students are seemingly addicted to social media, something that Murthy points out in his advisory.

“Small studies have shown that people with frequent and problematic use can experience changes in brain structure similar to changes seen in individuals with substance use or gambling addictions,” the advisory reads.

Another national survey revealed that one-third of girls ages 11-15 reported feeling “addicted” to a social media platform. But according to Saiger, it’s a loaded term in this context.

“It comes from medicine and implies a physical dependency,” he says. “Courts might well hold that it is per se unreasonable to try purposely to ‘addict’ children. But companies are entitled to design products that consumers enjoy using and therefore want to use more of.”

But the lawsuits clearly put pressure on social media companies, he notes. As with the general surgeon’s advisory, they stir public conversation and potential regulatory intervention, regardless of whether the lawsuits are dropped or resolved in favor of the company.

“They might also motivate state and federal regulators to look into the issue,” he says. “The companies might reasonably look for proactive measures that would satisfy some of the districts’ complaints in order to head off adverse regulatory action. This could look like a win to the districts.”

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The department’s Office for Civil Rights stepped in when participants at school board meeting complained that the district’s library book screening process was discriminatory based on sex, race, color, and national origin. Investigators found that Forsyth County Schools’ response was not sufficient to “ameliorate any resultant racially and sexually hostile environment,” the department said in announcing a resolution of the complaint.

“Communications at board meetings conveyed the impression that books were being screened to exclude diverse authors and characters, including people who are LGBTQI+ and authors who are not white, leading to increased fears and possibly harassment,” the Office for Civil Rights found. “Indeed, one student commented at a district school board meeting about the school environment becoming more harsh in the aftermath of the book removals and his fear about going to school.”
students expressing similar views.

In January 2022, Forsyth County Schools removed eight books from its media centers due to “sexually explicit content.” The titles included The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson, Looking for Alaska by John Green, Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez and Me Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews, the Forsyth County News reported.

That removal process began when a parent complained about content in the books, according to the Forsyth County News.

The Office for Civil Rights acknowledged that the district’s review committee “rejected suggestions to handle challenged books in ways that it believed would target certain groups of students.” The district also posted statements on its media center websites that the resources provided in its libraries should reflect the students in each school community.

More from DA: A surprise firing and 2 suspensions mark ongoing shuffle of K12 leadership

The committee also asked families to talk to their children about not checking out books that do not match their values or beliefs.

The resolution of the civil rights complaint now requires Forsyth County Schools to issue a statement to students explaining the library book removal process and to offer support to students who have been impacted. This includes explaining that the removal of the eight books in January 2022 was based solely on “sexually explicit content” and that future screenings will consider whether books “promote diversity by including materials about and by authors and illustrators of all cultures.”

Each Forsyth County middle and high school will also conduct a climate to determine whether additional steps need to be taken to ensure students do not feel discriminated against when books are challenged and reviewed.

The post Removal of 8 books may have created fear and harassment in Georgia district, feds say appeared first on District Administration.

Anti-censorship nonprofit PEN America and Penguin Random House have sued the Escambia County School District and its school board for removing LGBTQ-themed books from school libraries earlier this year. The lawsuit accuses the Florida Panhandle district of trying “to exclude certain ideas from their school libraries by removing or restricting books, some of which have been on the shelves for years—even decades.”

In a development that may or may not be related, the district fired its superintendent, Tim Smith, Tuesday night, the Pensacola News Journal reported.

“Books have the capacity to change lives for the better, and students, in particular, deserve equitable access to a wide range of perspectives,” Nihar Malaviya, CEO of Penguin Random House, said in a statement. “Censorship, in the form of book bans like those enacted by Escambia County, is a direct threat to democracy and our constitutional rights.”

Escambia School District Communication Coordinator Cody Strother told the Tallahassee Democrat that he was “unable to make comment on potential pending litigation.”

The Escambia County School Board called an emergency meeting in February to order the removal from district libraries of three LGBTQ-themed books: When Aidan Became a Brother, All Boys Aren’t Blue and And Tango Makes Three. The first title is about a transgender boy who becomes a big brother while the second is a memoir about growing up a queer Black man in New Jersey. The last book is about two male penguins who raise a chick.

More from DA: 3 big districts make big hires to fill superintendents’ posts

Prior to voting on the bans, school board member Kevin Adams noted that students could still check the books out of the public library. But dissenting board member Patricia Hightower rejected claims that such books could indoctrinate children or steer them toward an LGBTQ+ lifestyle. “Reading books opens your mind but it doesn’t change who are you or what you are,” Hightower said. “It makes you a more compassionate, caring person.”

The bans are a violation of both the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution because the books that were removed are by non-white and LGBTQ authors, and address themes or topics related to race and identity. The school board also ignored the recommendations of a district committee empaneled to review and evaluate books, the lawsuit claims.

“By ignoring these recommendations, the school district made clear that its interests are in censoring certain ideas and viewpoints, not pedagogy, and that it is willing to allow an extremist minority to substitute its political agenda for the judgment of educators and parents,” the organizations said.

The authors involved in the suit have all had their books removed by the district or restricted from student access. The writers include author and children’s book illustrator Sarah Brannen, young adult fiction authors David Levithan, George M. Johnson and Ashley Hope Pérez, and children’s book author Kyle Lukoff. Other plaintiffs in the suit include Lindsay Durtschi and Ann Novakowski, who are parents of children who attend Escambia County schools.

“Children in a democracy must not be taught that books are dangerous. The freedom to read is guaranteed by the constitution,” said Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America. “In Escambia County, state censors are spiriting books off shelves in a deliberate attempt to suppress diverse voices. In a nation built on free speech, this cannot stand.”

More school book bans occurred during the first half of 2022-23 than in the previous two semesters, escalation that anti-censorship groups are now dubbing the “Ed Scare,” PEN America announced earlier this year. That bans are being driven by new laws passed in several states that restrict what can be taught in public schools even though an American Library Association poll found 70% of parents oppose bans.

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The word is the Commissioner TEA has chosen Mike Miles, former Superintendent of Dallas ISD to be the Superintendent of HISD. The Commissioner should confirm or deny. This process is totally flawed. One person in Austin is deciding who will be the Superintendent and Managers. st

— Sylvester Turner (@SylvesterTurner) May 13, 2023

The Texas Education Agency has responded by saying a decision has not been made and nothing will be announced until June 1, KHOU reported.

Agency leaders have said that consistently poor academic performance at Houston ISD is driving the takeover, which became official in March after years of speculation and is one of the largest in U.S. history. The takeover has angered Democrats, who see it as a political move against one of the red state’s most liberal and diverse cities.

The agency has said it intends to replace Houston Superintendent Millard House II and the district’s board of trustees—which held its last meeting on Thursday—with a new district leader and an appointed board of managers consisting of district residents. “Hundreds of Houstonians” have applied to serve on the new board of managers, the agency said.

In his 2015 resignation announcement, Miles said he felt he could step down to rejoin his family in Colorado after helping build a “critical foundation” for Dallas ISD to continue on a positive trajectory. Among the achievements he cited were the implementation of a rigorous principal evaluation system, a pay-for-performance teacher evaluation system, expansion of public choice schools, and increased investment in early childhood programs.

Turner’s tweet drew strong social media reaction from all sides:

Process isn't the problem. https://t.co/C8KX8wcyou pic.twitter.com/VZYl9ccMk8

— James Quintero (@JamesQuinteroTX) May 13, 2023

Houston’s largest school district is under assault by a hostile Governor and his Ed Commissioner.
The process is undemocratic and flawed – as intended.
Houstonians will continue to voice opposition to this racist takeover – regardless of which puppet is selected. #HISD https://t.co/Zzd4A5XKOw

— Daniel Santos (@mr_dsantos) May 14, 2023

More from DA: Stricter discipline may be returning to schools after abandonment of zero tolerance

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Reams of research have found that zero-tolerance discipline policies disproportionately harm students of color and that out-of-school suspensions often fail to correct misbehavior. For instance, one study found that only 12% of principals agreed that suspensions and expulsions give students time to reflect on or learn from their misbehavior.

But a rise in violence and other behavioral problems since the pandemic is fueling a push to bring back move punitive punishments in some states and districts. In Nevada, the state teachers union is backing two new discipline bills, including one that repeals a requirement to use restorative practices before a student is suspended or expelled. A second measure would allow schools to suspend or expel a student of any age who assaults a school employee.

“We believe a strong restorative discipline system could reduce incidents where educators sustain injuries,” the Nevada State Education Association said in a statement. “However, this system would need to be proactive, implemented district-wide across all districts, and would require significantly more training, attention, and resources.”

Where tough discipline is returning

Here’s a look at newly enacted laws and bills being considered in several states:

Arizona: Sets guidelines for suspending students in grades K-4.

Kentucky: New law requires school boards to expel for at 12 months any students who threaten or pose a danger to classmates or staff. Schools can also suspend disruptive students who are removed from class three times in a 30-day period. Principals can transfer disruptive students to alternative education programs.

Nebraska: Educators could physically contact or restrain disruptive students and remove them from class.

North Carolina: More behaviors would be added to what schools could consider “a serious violation,” including the use of inappropriate or disrespectful language, noncompliance with a staff directive, dress code violations, and minor physical altercations that do not involve weapons or injury.

More from DA: How an onslaught of social media threats is disrupting and terrorizing schools

Even such “minor violations” can make classrooms dangerous, Republican North Carolina state Rep. Ken Fontenot, told the EdNC website. “Dress code violations. It is probably serious if a young lady is exposing herself in a way that is not good for her or the male students or vice versa,” Fontenot said. “A minor physical altercation. Who’s to say what is minor if your bully is 6-foot-3 and you happen to be 4-foot-5?”

West Virginia: Black students are being disproportionately suspended compared to their white and Hispanic classmates, according to a report presented to the state’s board of education this week. One-fifth of the state’s Black students were suspended in the 2021-22 school year compared to just 10% of white students and 10% of Hispanic students. While Black children represent 4% of the state’s student population, they accounted for 8% of all suspensions

Students from low-income households were also suspended at twice the rate of other students in West Virginia. Still, state lawmakers are working to codify educators’ power to remove students from classrooms. The latest proposal would allow teachers to exclude students “guilty of disorderly conduct” or who, in any manner, interfere with instruction. Students face suspension after they’ve been removed three times but the bill prohibits students from being suspended for missing class.

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Still, that political climate—in which books with LGBTQ characters have been yanked from school libraries and the rights of transgender students are being restricted by state governors and lawmakers—is clearly taking a substantial toll on the mental health and well-being of LGBTQ youth. The Trevor Project’s survey found:

• A majority of LGBTQ young people reported being verbally harassed at school because people thought they were LGBTQ.
• Nearly 1 in 3 LGBTQ young people said their mental health was poor most of the time or always due to anti-LGBTQ policies and legislation.
• Nearly 2 in 3 LGBTQ young people said that hearing about potential state or local laws banning people from discussing LGBTQ people at school made their mental health a lot worse.

Equally concerning is that more than half (56%) of LGBTQ students who wanted mental health care in the past year were not able to get help while less than four in 10 said their home was LGBTQ-affirming. On the more hopeful side, about half of transgender and nonbinary young people reported that their school was gender-affirming and, therefore, were less likely to attempt suicide.

The risk of self-harm also declined among transgender and nonbinary young people who reported that all of the people they live with respected their preferred pronouns.

Building support for LGBTQ youth

The students’ responses should give superintendents and other administrators ideas for further expanding the support they provide to their LGBTQ youth. LGBTQ youth who experience affirmation at home, at school, at community events and online report lower rates of attempting suicide. They also said it would be helpful for parents, educators and other people in their lives to know more about gender identity, pronouns, creating safe spaces and microaggressions, among other topics.

More from DA: Nearly 25% of high school students now identify as LGBTQ. Here’s why that matters

And despite concerns about screen time and social, LGBTQ youth said they found the most affirming spaces online. Schools offered the second-most affirming spaces, with homes and communities ranking much farther behind. For example, transgender and nonbinary young people were less likely to attempt suicide if they had access to a gender-neutral bathroom at school. About two-thirds of these students confirmed that they had access to a gender-neutral bathroom.

Finally, educators can also learn from students’ descriptions of a world where all LGBTQ people are accepted. Some of the most common phrases that students used included “can be who they want to be,” “people mind their own business,” “gender-neutral bathrooms,” and “people ask pronouns.”

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Runcie, who both resigned and was arrested on the perjury charge in 2021, was Broward County’s superintendent when convicted murderer Nicholas Cruz killed 17 students and staff members at the district’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

The case has its roots in a $1 billion bond measure—passed four years before the Parkland shooting—that Runcie and supporters said would be used primarily for school safety improvements, the Associated Press reported. The grand jury accused Runcie and school board members of mismanaging the bond funds, according to the AP.

The grand jury was requested by Gov. Ron DeSantis to investigate whether Broward and other districts were complying with safety laws in the wake of the Parkland massacre, according to the Miami Herald. Prosecutors alleged that Runcie, in his grand jury testimony, lied about having spoken to a witness in a separate case before the grand jury, the Herald reported. 

In dismissing the perjury charge, the judge ruled that the state only has jurisdiction over crimes that occur in multiple counties and found that Runcie only testified in a single county, according to the Associated Press. Florida’s attorney general will likely appeal the decision, the AP added.

More from DA: Sudden departures leave 2 districts searching for their next superintendents

In a 2020 interview with District Administration, Runcie talked about how he was guiding Broward County schools in dismantling systemic racism and implicit biases. There are hundreds of “discretionary moments” during the school day when teachers may negatively alter facial expressions and body language—whether consciously or unconsciously—when different students raise their hands or behave in certain ways, Runcie said.

“Those discretionary moments can have a significant impact on student learning and engagement,” Runcie told DA. “Our schools can be ground zero for a better dialogue, for a better level of conversation among adults who can better prepare the next generation to behave in ways that are an improvement on what we see going on today.”

Robert Runcie is currently the chief in residence at Chiefs for Change, where he coaches and advises administrators in the nonprofit organization’s leadership development program.

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“Advocacy is telling stories so people who aren’t in our buildings can understand what it’s like day to day,” says Shindel, the Maryland state coordinator for the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the influential professional association. “There’s a narrative out there and either we tell it or someone else does. If we don’t speak up, things are going to happen to our schools without our input.”

As a principal at four different schools over the past 14 years, Shindel has worked with community organizations to open a school-based food pantry and create scholarships so underprivileged students have the same opportunity to go on field trips as do their more affluent classmates. At one school, she and her team got a new hallway built to ease overcrowding.

And just as she is not bashful about bringing concerns to central office, she also encourages her middle school staff to make her aware of their own concerns. “Sometimes, it’s just having the courage to bring things to someone’s attention,” Shindel explains. “When teachers bring something to my attention, I thank them.”

She also regularly invites local leaders, such as the Howard County executive, and national leaders—such as Maryland’s U.S. senators and U.S. Department of Education officials—to tour her school. She also participates in local leadership programs by allowing people to shadow her during the workday.

‘Communicating and building relationships’

In 2021, the “Blueprint for Maryland’s Future” was launched to guide the state’s schools in adopting best practices for improving student achievement, school climate and other key aspects of the K12 system. Shindel is a big supporter of the initiative but objected to a proposal to require assistant principals to teach in classrooms a certain number of hours each week. “In theory, it’s an amazing idea, in reality, it’s not realistic,” she points out, adding that the Blueprint’s developers did not consult building leaders on this idea.

Even outside the classrooms, administrators do plenty of teaching, both academic and social-emotional, from coaching and observing teachers to connecting with students around the building.

At the federal level, she has teamed up with colleagues from the National Association of Elementary School Principals to lobby lawmakers on Capitol Hill. She and other principals try to meet annually with members of Congress or their staff to alert them to the needs of students and schools. “They ask questions, and we’re communicating and building relationships,” Shindel says.

A primer on political advocacy

If you have always been reluctant as a K12 leader to become more active politically, you’re not alone. “It can feel risky to choose sides in a messy
partisan battle when the goal up to that point has been to stay above the fray,” writes Marc Porter Magee, CEO of the education nonprofit, 50CAN, in his new FutureEd report, “Electoral Advocacy: Social Change Through Political Strategy.” “The first step is to let go of simplistic stories about how elections work. The truth is that building political clout through electoral advocacy is difficult, incremental and unpredictable.”

Magee tackles a few questions educators and advocates may have about political advocacy. For instance, can you actually persuade the public to vote for your cause? Research shows the answer is yes: “The most effective tool for getting voters to change their preexisting beliefs is storytelling,” Magee asserts.

It’s also OK for education advocates to recruit candidates, as long as they do so well in advance of the campaign to allow those candidates can build confidence and get up to speed on the issues. “Electoral work can matter but often fails to have an effect because advocates don’t engage in elections productively,” Magee concludes. “The more personal the tactics, the better.”

More from DA: Student success—What have we learned about what does and doesn’t work? 

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The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act is a move to “save women’s sports,” says the measure’s sponsor, Rep. Greg Staube of Florida. The bill, which is pretty much certain to flounder in the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate, sought to require schools to abide by the Title IX recognition of a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth in determining eligibility for athletics programs.

“Parents do not want biological men in locker rooms with their daughters, nor do they believe its equitable that a male can compete with women in female athletics,” Staube said in a statement. “That is the whole purpose behind the creation of Title IX.”

The House GOP is following in the footsteps of a large number of state legislatures that have pushed similar bans, with the big difference being that those measures are now law. Several states have also enacted new restrictions that prevent transgender students from using the bathroom that matches their gender identity.

President Joe Biden has said he would veto any bans on transgender athletes. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Education proposed updated Title IX regulations that would bar schools from imposing wholesale restrictions on what sports transgender athletes can play. The Title IX proposal would allow schools to set specific policies—based on sport, grade and level of competition—to ensure fairness and safety.

“Elementary school students would generally be able to participate on school sports teams consistent with their gender identity where considerations may be different for competitive high school and college teams,” the department explained.

More from DA: LGTBQ instruction has now been silenced throughout K12 in Florida

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“This destructive ideology is grounded in misrepresentations of our country’s history and its role in the world,” Trump’s 2020 executive order reads. “Although presented as new and revolutionary, they resurrect the discredited notions of the nineteenth century’s apologists for slavery who, like President Lincoln’s rival Stephen A. Douglas, maintained that our government “was made on the white basis” “by white men, for the benefit of white men.'”

Now, researchers are pointing to the impact such restrictive legislation has had on K12 and higher education.

A new report by CRT Forward, an initiative from the University of California Los Angeles School of Law Critical Race Studies Program, reveals some of the most prominent trends that came about over the last two years of what they call “the crusade against CRT.”

Let’s take a detailed look at these five trends:

1. The Executive Order’s long-lasting legacy: Though it was rescinded just a few months after it was released, its language continues to exist in most forms of anti-CRT legislation. Of the 563 anti-CRT measures introduced between Jan. 1, 2021, and Dec. 31, 2022, 41% seek to regulate one form of subject matter for being a “divisive concept.” In addition, one-third ban instruction of divisive concepts that “any individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any form of psychological distress on account of his or her race or sex,” the report reads.
2. Most states have adopted at least one anti-CRT measure: As of Dec. 31, 2022, 28 states have incorporated at least one anti-CRT law at the state level. 16 of the 28 have adopted specific anti-CRT legislation.
3. These measures heavily focus on K12 schools, colleges and universities: K12 and higher ed have felt the brunt of the crusade, according to the report. 91% of all introduced measures (513) and 94% of all those enacted (226 of 241) target K12 education. However, its impact on higher ed is much less as only 20% of introduced measures and 12% of those enacted target such institutions.
4. Measures against K12 schools restrict curriculum and classroom lessons: 73% of the 513 introduced measures regulate classroom teaching and 75% regulate curricular materials, the report reads. In fact, most of them regulate both. Furthermore, 147 of the 513 introduced measures require school districts to allow parents to surveil curriculum. 28% of these proposed measures have been adopted.
5. One-third of introduced state legislation threatens to withhold funding if schools violate these laws: Teachers, schools and districts are walking on eggshells knowing of the consequences associated with violating anti-CRT legislation. In fact, 14% of the proposed state legislative measures allow for individual citizens to sue district officials and teachers for “alleged noncompliance.”

“The findings in this report suggest that the anti-‘CRT’ movement is not stagnating; indeed, government officials at all levels are introducing an equal or greater number of measures in 2023 as they did in 2021 or 2022,” the report reads. “The CRT Forward Tracking Project will continue to compile, track and analyze these efforts to aid researchers, advocates and activists in resisting this current attack.”

More from DA: How teacher turnover is being addressed in school board meetings

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