Ontario school boards sue Snapchat, TikTok and Meta for $4.5 billion, alleging they're deliberately hurting students
By Kristin Rushowy - Queen’s Park Bureau Thu Mar 28 05:00:00 EDT 2024 "Four Ontario school boards have launched $4.5-billion in lawsuits against social media giants Snapchat, TikTok and Meta — which owns Facebook and Instagram — accusing them of deliberately hurting students, interfering with their learning and harming their mental health, leaving educators to “manage the fallout.” In four separate but similar cases filed Wednesday in Ontario's Superior Court of Justice, the public boards in Toronto, Peel and Ottawa and the Toronto Catholic board allege the popular social media platforms were "designed for compulsive use (and) have rewired the way children think, behave, and learn" and are calling on the companies to make improvements, say their statements of claim. School boards have had to bring in staff, resources and programming to mitigate the "significant impacts that these addictive platforms are having on our students," said Colleen Russell-Rawlins, director of education at the Toronto District School Board, the country's largest. "We're managing mental health challenges, loneliness and … discrimination — the slurs that we're seeing students use, some of that emanates from what's on social media," she added. "We really want to raise awareness and ultimately get these companies to acknowledge and to make these things safer," added Brendan Browne, director of education for the Toronto Catholic District School Board. The Star reached out via email to the social media companies for comment about the allegations, which have not been tested in court. A spokesperson for Snapchat said it "was intentionally designed to be different from traditional social media, with a focus on helping Snapchatters communicate with their close friends. Snapchat opens directly to a camera — rather than a feed of content — and has no traditional public likes or comments." While "we will always have more work to do, we feel good about the role Snapchat plays in helping close friends feel connected, happy and prepared as they face the many challenges of adolescence," the spokesperson said. Responses from the other social media companies were not received by deadline. Russell-Rawlins said boards have struggled, adding "our students are not fully present" given studies have shown that more than 90 per cent of kids in Grades 7 to 12 use social media daily, and 45 per cent of them for more than five hours which "takes them away from the social relationships that are part of the fabric of their growth and development and socialization." Add cyberbullying into the mix, with the "escalation of aggression that shows up in schools for teachers, vice-principals, principals and other professionals to help students manage and de-escalate." The four boards are represented by Neinstein LLP, and will not be out of pocket for legal costs as the firm will take a contingency fee. Duncan Embury, the firm's head of litigation, said the boards "view this as part of a process designed to create change, because we're hearing first-hand from educators about the enormous harms that are occurring day-to-day in the school system because of these products." About 500 school districts in the U.S. have launched similar cases now making their way through the courts, as have some states, but Embury is unaware of any other cases in Canada. Just this week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ushered in a new law banning kids under 14 from social media and requiring parental permission from those ages 14 and 15 amid concerns over their mental health and well-being. Cathy Abraham, president of the Ontario Public School Boards' Association, said it's up to other boards to decide if they want to take part. "There's been all kinds of encouragement for students to prank, and it's resulted in violence in schools, and things being posted online … and it's really landing in our classrooms where teachers are having to deal with behaviours" and boards have to direct "so many of our resources to it," added Browne. Pino Buffone, director of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, said "we encourage the integration of technology … but there's no question that (these platforms) are distracting students and leading to a number of wellness issues — concerns that our students, our parents, guardians and caregivers are expressing." The boards allege the social media companies have "knowingly and/or negligently disrupted and fundamentally changed the school, learning, and teaching climate by creating and sustaining prolific and/or compulsive use of their products by students," say their statements of claim. "The defendants knew, or ought to have known, that their negligent conduct seriously and negatively impacts the student population by causing maladaptive brain development, compulsive use, disrupted sleep patterns, behavioural dysregulation, learning and attention impairment, and other serious issues that impact the school, learning, and teaching climate," the statements of claim also say."
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Are the public schools so scared about getting sued? They hide bullying issues occurring at their school. Are the teachers properly trained with trauma sensitive programming? Is the community trained? Is public school a safe place for kids anymore? This piece of news.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/article-former-nhl-enforcer-chris-simon-dead-at-age-52/ And then this piece of news. https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/19/sport/konstantin-koltsov-ice-hockey-death-spt-intl/index.html Conversations about mental health are not going away any time soon....in fact there are going to be more and more headlines, more and more terrible stories of loss due to mental health issues in the future. There are going to be politicians, newspapers, social media companies and adversaries trying to diagnose people who do bad things as having a mental health issues. There are going to be more polarizing posts, and stories around the world hoping you'll pick a side. The side that sits facing opposite someone with a mental health issue. The speed that society is changing at is too fast for us. Our ability to catch up to and fully understand the vast impact technology, social media, past traumas, educational systems, headline hunting politicians, the divide between religions, and borders etc. is a D minus at best. Technology wants us to rapidly make monumental changes to our ways of feeling, thinking and behaving. We cannot change at that requested speed. It is too much. COVID. Too much. Wars. Too much. Democracy versus Demagoguery. Too much. Until the focus is back on interpersonal skills, communicating in person with your peers, and community, experiencing life away from your phone and in real time: we cannot psychologically catch up to technology. Our emotional life and intelligence will short circuit many times over. It doesn't have to be like this. Al Bernstein IAN BROWN PHOTOGRAPHY
Short film explores mental health issues and violenceNovember 8, 2017By Susan Minuk Al Bernstein is a first-time filmmaker who debuted his short film, WalledIn, at the Toronto Independent Film Festival last September. As lead actor, writer and executive producer, Bernstein dived into the arena of mental illness. With a running time of 8 1/2 minutes, WalledIn is a project that took Bernstein four years to complete. The film depicts a powerful performance by Bernstein, playing a high school principal who meets with a troubled and potentially homicidal teen who he fears may go on a shooting spree, in his office one morning. An unsettling dialogue ensues. The film also premiered in Louisville, England, and will be screened in Ottawa, New York, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Bulgaria by the end of the year. “I am very proud and so excited of where WalledIn has gone so far. There is a growing awareness surrounding mental health and a greater openness among people for discussion, allowing for more stories to emerge,” said Bernstein. What would you do if you found yourself in a moment where you possibly have a chance to save the lives of dozens of children? “This is the question that my character is facing. I have created a very specific backstory with multiple layers,” he said. Bernstein’s character is loosely based on himself and his own mental health issues. “The principal has depression and anxiety, but he’s learning about it for the first time, while the student has been living with it most of her life, having been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The student teaches the principal lesson after lesson, telling him she doesn’t need to be fixed, to accept her for who she is, to stop judging her. She also tells him, ‘Just because you found a gun (in my locker), doesn’t mean I’m going to kill anyone,’ ” said Bernstein’. “there is growing awareness surrounding mental health” In the principal’s office, the student has a flashback to a presentation she delivered to her classmates. “The mysterious priestess is a character created by the student while in her mania, a place where she feels empowered. She delivers messages to the students about discrimination versus stigma and tolerance. It took me a long time to write that presentation in a way that I think turned out really beautiful,” he said. Bernstein ends the film with a cliffhanger: “I purposely left no definitive ending to the film, because I knew the audience would be intrigued, and possibly even frustrated. I want people to think and talk about it.” Bernstein’s goal is to spark a dialogue within the mental health community. “I want it to be a part of the conversation about mental health in our youth and the role of the educator. I want the film to be shown at schools, youth outreach programs, community centres and in therapists’ offices, as a doorway to a bigger conversation,” said Bernstein. Bernstein, 49, grew up in Toronto. He attended York University, studying English literature by day, while pursuing acting classes in the evening at Ryerson University. READ: COURT GRANTS INJUNCTION TO KEEP BRAIN DEAD ORTHODOX MAN ON LIFE SUPPORT When he started out, Bernstein set his sights on working as an actor in New York City. He performed on the New York stage for several years, until he was accepted into his dream program at the Actors Studio Drama School at the New School University, where he earned his master’s degree. He studied with theatre’s top coaches, including Elizabeth Kemp, David Gideon, Arthur Penn, Ellen Burstyn, Susan Batson and many more. By 2008, Bernstein had moved to Los Angeles, where he lived for nine years, but he recently moved back to Toronto. Some of Bernstein’s film, television, and theatre roles include: Blackberry, The Umbrella Academy, Godsend with Robert DeNiro, How to lose a Guy in 10 Days with Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey, Nip/Tuck and Nikita. His off-Broadway roles include The Interrogation, The Dance of Chance and Have you Heard Uncle Dan Sing? Director Elia Kazan, whose films dealt with personal and social issues, is Bernstein’s inspiration. Kazan memorably wrote, “I don’t move unless I have some empathy with the basic theme. “Elia Kazan did everything from producing and writing to acting. He eventually found his niche as a director. He was very talented and so much of an influence on me. I always felt that it would be lovely to have a life like that,” said Bernstein. What’s next? “I’m working on the treatment of a feature film version of WalledIN,” he said. “I am going to tell the story of how the principal and the student arrived that day in the principal’s office by going back to the past – about six months.” The pair of new studies published Monday in the CMAJ found higher-than-expected ER visits, hospitalizations for these crises in children 10-18 compared to years leading up to pandemic.
By Kenyon Wallace Investigative Reporter, Megan Ogilvie Health Reporter Monday, September 18, 2023 5 min to read The number of Canadian adolescents who visited emergency departments or required hospital treatment for self-harm or suicidal thoughts rose significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the greatest increase among preteen and younger teen girls, two new studies show. The pair of studies, published Monday in the CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal), found higher-than-expected emergency department visits and hospitalizations for these mental health crises in children ages 10 to 18 compared to the years leading up to the pandemic. Researchers say the studies provide further evidence of the pandemic’s impact on the mental health of young people. The findings, they say, echo other Canadian and international research that shows similar increases in self-harm among adolescent girls, signalling this group may have been disproportionally affected. The new research, the authors say, highlights the need for better access and more funding to bolster the already stretched pediatric mental health system, and points to the demand for additional supports for children and youth, including help in identifying early warning signs in preteens and younger teenagers. “What we didn’t expect to find was that these mental health crises would be so exacerbated in females and in younger adolescents — girls between 10 and 14 years old — during the pandemic in terms of hospital admissions,” said Dr. Naveen Poonai, an associate professor at Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and lead author of the Canada-wide study. “This demographic needs to be on our radar and serious consideration for investment needs to be made.” Dr. Natasha Saunders, a pediatrician at the Hospital for Sick Children and senior author of the second study published in the CMAJ, said Ontario data showing elevated rates of self-harm among preteen and young teenage girls emphasizes the need to ensure kids have multiple ways to easily and equitably access mental health care to help prevent them from requiring hospital care. “We have to, as a system, meet kids where they’re at and where they’re ready to seek care. We need care to be continuous and co-ordinated and not hard to navigate,” she said, adding that timely access is equally important. “If a kid seeks help, we can’t wait 10 months to get that kid care.” The first study, conducted by members of the Pediatric Emergency Research Canada Network, a group of health-care researchers working to improve care in pediatric emergency medicine, analyzed anonymized data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). They found that while Canada-wide emergency department visits for all causes in children age 10 to 18 fell considerably during the pandemic compared to the five years pre-COVID, ER visits and hospital admissions for suicidal ideation, self-harm and self-poisoning increased for this group. Emergency room visits for these crises increased to 6,060 per quarter during the pandemic period (April 1, 2020 - March 31, 2022), up from 5,293 per quarter in the pre-pandemic period (April 1, 2015, to March 31, 2020) — an increase of 14.5 per cent. Hospitalizations for these conditions in the same age group increased to 1,770 per quarter of the pandemic from 1,590 admissions per quarter pre-pandemic, an increase of 11 per cent. Previous data from CIHI showed mental illness, including anxiety and mood disorders, was among the top reasons kids and teenagers required hospital care during COVID’s second year. The second paper published Monday in the CMAJ — a population-based study that analyzed Ontario data from CIHI and the independent research group ICES — found ER visits for self-harm in children age 10 -17 increased by 29 per cent above expected levels, while hospitalizations increased by 72 per cent. As in the Canada-wide study, the increases were greatest among girls, particularly those 10 - 13. There was a 62 per cent increase in ER visits among this cohort compared to expected levels modelled from data collected in the three years leading up to the pandemic. As well, hospitalizations among girls 10 - 13 were three-and-a-half times greater than expected levels. The study also found an increase in adolescents seeking hospital care for self-harm among those who had already entered the mental health system and among those for whom the visit was their first for mental health concerns, Saunders said. This suggests this issue is not solely due to difficulties accessing care in the community, she said, but may also signal more widespread distress amongst this age group. While the pair of studies didn’t examine the reasons for the increases in ER visits and hospitalizations, Saunders said they are likely due to “the chronic, cumulative effects of the pandemic” during a vulnerable time in a child or teen’s development. “When you have these incredibly stressful periods, at a time when a child’s brain is developing, when they’re developing their sense of identity, they’re developing their independence, and many of the things that usually support normal healthy development have been taken away or curtailed, that can leave a lasting impact on a young teen,” said Saunders. She said a limitation of the Ontario study is that it only accounts for kids who go to the hospital, meaning it is “likely an underestimate of the true magnitude of effect because many kids may have self-harming behaviours at home who don’t present to acute care.” Poonai noted that before the pandemic and depending on the school board, many young people had access to school-based counsellors, social workers and even some mental health nurses. During the pandemic, much of that access ceased. “Children relied on those people extensively,” he said. “They were available to kids during the day, they heard directly from teachers, they heard directly from parents and they knew the kids.” “I’m not a public health policy expert, but what I do know is that investments in front-line support staff for kids, whether they be mental health specialists or counsellors with interests in mental health, such as social workers, needs to be made.” Dr. Stacey Bélanger, a developmental pediatrician and hospitalist at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine, a large pediatric hospital in Montreal, said the studies’ findings reflect what she and her colleagues saw during the early years of the pandemic. “My colleagues in the emergency department couldn’t keep up with the influx of patients coming in with mental health issues,” said Bélanger who specializes in mental health and behavioural pediatrics. “I’ve been practising for almost 25 years, and it was the first time that the majority of the patients in our hospital units were adolescents and the majority of those because of a mental health crisis or treatment for eating disorders.” In May, the Canadian Pediatric Society released a statement calling for systemic changes to meet the mental health needs of the country’s children and youth. The society noted that fewer than 20 per cent of kids with mental health concerns receive timely treatment and said a lack of access to multidisciplinary care and inadequate government funding, among other things, has “exacerbated a mental health crisis among children and youth.” Bélanger, a member of the Society’s Mental Health Task Force, said more funding is needed to ensure universal access to community mental health services, programs and supports to help prevent kids and teens from needing hospital care. Dr. Rachel Mitchell, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and lead author of the Ontario study, said she wants children and adolescents struggling with their mental health — and their parents and caregivers — to know “there is always hope and there is always help.” “That’s the most important thing to remember. Even when all feels lost, in moments of crisis or despair, that feeling won’t last forever. You may not be able to change the situation, but you can get help to start changing the way you feel. We want kids to reach out for that help.” If you are thinking of suicide or know someone who is, there is help. Resources are available online at crisisservicescanada.ca or you can connect to the national suicide prevention helpline at 1-833-456-4566, or the Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868. Kenyon Wallace is a Toronto-based investigative reporter for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @KenyonWallace or reach him via email: [email protected] |
Al BernsteinAl works in film/tv and the theatre in New York, Toronto, and Los Angeles some highlights include: the award-winning short film Walled IN (written & produced by Al), Workin’ Moms, The Umbrella Academy, The Novice, Nikita, How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days, Showtime’s Street Time, Off Broadway: The Interrogation, Will (written by Al), 2013 Winner! LA Drama Critics Awards for Best Production, Director, Adaptation, CYRANO (World Premiere, DeafWest/Fountain Theatre), 2011 Ovation & LA Weekly Award winning Best Musical, Best Musical Director, Best Director, HOBOKEN TO HOLLYWOOD, The Sunshine Boys (with Hal Linden and Allan Miller) plus, many more. Today, Al is a finalist at the Actors Studio and works as an actor, writer, filmmaker and acting professor in Toronto. Archives
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