With mental health incidents rising and support systems stretched thin, school districts are pursuing a legal strategy rooted in public nuisance law.
Across the U.S., public school districts are turning to the courts in a fight they never asked to join. Faced with rising anxiety, depression, cyberbullying and behavioral disruptions tied to student social media use, hundreds of districts are suing the companies behind the platforms—Meta, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat and others. The lawsuits allege that these tech giants deliberately designed their products to be addictive and psychologically harmful, leaving schools and taxpayers to handle the emotional, behavioral and financial consequences.
This legal wave is the latest chapter in a familiar story: when powerful corporations create harm at scale, public institutions are left to clean up the mess.
A Crisis with a Classroom Address
Teen mental health has been in free fall for the past decade, with schools often acting as the first and only line of defense. As social media takes a heavier toll on students’ emotions and behavior, schools are being pushed far beyond teaching as they’re forced to manage a full-blown mental health crisis.
Conflicts that start online—whether through bullying, image sharing or AI-enhanced harassment—are increasingly playing out at school. Teachers and staff are left to break up fights that originated in comment threads, mediate drama inflamed by viral videos and support students showing signs of emotional dysregulation after hours of algorithm-driven scrolling.
Administrators are trying to adapt. Districts are expanding mental health staffing, offering digital literacy programs, and confiscating phones during the school day to limit exposure. Educators say the nature of online harm has changed dramatically in recent years. What used to be isolated incidents of sexting or mean-spirited comments has evolved into something far more complex. Students are now using AI to generate explicit images, spread them across platforms and fuel harassment campaigns that blur the line between school and social media. These incidents are harder to track, more difficult to address and often leave administrators scrambling without clear policies or resources.
According to the U.S. Surgeon General, nearly half of adolescents say social media makes them feel worse about their body image. A 2025 Pew Research Center study found that 46% of teen girls report feeling sad or depressed because of social platforms, and almost 70% of teens believe social media negatively impacts their peers’ mental health.
These concerns routinely show up in counselor appointments, disciplinary reports and overworked school nurses.
From Digital Harm to Legal Action
With mental health incidents rising and support systems stretched thin, school districts are pursuing a legal strategy rooted in public nuisance law. The core claim: social media companies have created and profited from a widespread mental health hazard, and now public institutions are being forced to bear the costs. In my work representing school districts, I’ve seen firsthand how tech-driven mental health challenges overwhelm educators and why legal pressure is often the only lever we have to push for change.
The litigation began gaining national traction in 2023, when Seattle Public Schools filed the first major case. Since then, the number of participating districts has grown rapidly. More than 500 have joined similar suits, including Houston ISD, the largest district in Texas.
This momentum has been fueled by internal documents made public in state-level lawsuits, including those brought by 33 attorneys general. These records show that Meta knew Instagram was contributing to negative mental health outcomes in teens but continued to prioritize features that maximized engagement, according to The Guardian’s reporting.
Unlike individual claims from families, these district-led lawsuits represent a broader public impact. They are seeking financial damages as well as structural changes, including more transparency, safer platform design and funding for the support services schools have been forced to provide without help.
A Systemic Response is Starting to Take Shape
Legal action is unfolding alongside a growing shift in policy at the state level. In New York and California, new legislation is limiting phone use during school hours and exploring stronger digital protections for youth. Some districts now require students to lock phones in magnetic pouches at the start of the day to reduce distraction and exposure.
These policy changes underscore how seriously state leaders are taking the issue. While legislative measures look to prevent future harm, lawsuits aim to address the cost of what’s already been done, both financially and emotionally.
Together, they signal a growing understanding that the youth mental health crisis cannot be separated from the technology environment fueling it.
A Familiar Legal Playbook
Legal action has long been used to challenge industries that profit from public harm. In the opioid crisis, lawsuits helped expose how pharmaceutical companies downplayed the risks of addiction. In PFAS contamination cases, litigation forced chemical manufacturers to fund cleanup efforts and health monitoring programs.
The social media lawsuits are following a similar path. They focus on corporate accountability for system-wide harm, particularly when vulnerable populations like children are involved and institutions like schools are forced to respond without adequate resources.
Attorneys like myself and public health advocates involved in these cases argue that without legal pressure, there is little incentive for tech companies to slow down their growth engines or redesign the systems that keep kids coming back, even when it causes psychological harm.
Accountability Starts with Acknowledging Impact
The youth mental health crisis is complex, but one thing is increasingly clear: schools are being asked to carry a burden they never signed up for. They are confiscating phones, hiring therapists, responding to emergencies and adapting to student behaviors shaped by products designed without their input.
These lawsuits are not about banning technology. They are about acknowledging that some of the most powerful companies in the world have created tools that shape how young people think, feel and connect—and that those tools have consequences.
Until there are meaningful changes in platform design, business incentives and corporate responsibility, the cost will keep landing on public schools and the children they serve.
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