Social media is proven to be unhealthy and a detriment to mental health - multiple studies have found a strong link between heavy social media and an increased risk for depression, anxiety, loneliness, self-harm, and even suicidal thoughts. Cell phones are the primary means for students to access social media and many students are addicted to their cell phones. Allowing students unfettered access to their cell phones while in class contributes to the erosion of their mental health. However, now our students aren’t just limited to their cell phones to access social media, students can now access social media right on their school issued devices while in class.

It’s bad enough that SJUSD doesn’t follow their posted technology policy on internet connected devices which requires they be turned off in class, except when being used for school-related tasks as determined by the teacher or other district employee. Social media is being accessed in SJUSD classrooms, on school issued devices during school hours by our students, allowing for a constant barrage of social media on our students. Our students should be given every opportunity possible in the classroom to maintain their focus on learning, especially after over a year of distance learning and the associated learning loss. If SJUSD is going to continue to put our students in front of a screen while in the classroom then more needs to be done by SJUSD to ensure the students are able to stay on task and be safe. To expect that the teacher can manage the students on task and to be safe from the opposite side of 30+ screens is impossible. SJUSD needs to help the teachers and the students by removing the access to the social media temptation from the classrooms by limiting social media from school issued devices and by enforcing their posted technology policy on the use of internet connected devices in the classroom.

Support this petition to limit social media on SJUSD school issued devices; specifically, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook and Discord. It's SJUSD’s responsibility to employ robust content filtering measures to block the ever evolving world of social media applications that do not provide educational value to our students. SJUSD must do more to ensure our students are safe from the detrimental effects of social media on their mental health while in class on school issued devices and provide enforcement of the existing posted technology policies for the use of internet connected devices in the classroom.