Jordan School District selected as lead plaintiff in nationwide lawsuit against social media giants

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) -- Sharol Stapley, like many parents, is hesitant to give her 12-year-old daughter a cell phone for fear of how social media might change her life.

“She needs to find out who she is as a person first and get a strong backbone before social media can be entered into her world, because it can devastate,” she said.

It’s a worry shared by the Jordan School District, which has been selected to be one of the lead plaintiffs in a nationwide, multi-district lawsuit against social media giants such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

Anthony Godfrey, superintendent of the Jordan School District, told reporters Monday that the Wasatch Front district has spent millions of dollars to improve mental health services for its students in recent years. He said the root of the problem is social media.

“You see on an individual basis how their lives are negatively impacted,” Godfrey said. “Not just their learning but their ability to interact with...