Calgary school boards not considering lawsuits against social media giants
Calgary school boards are not considering suing social media companies, an action announced by Ontario school boards last week.
Four of Ontario's largest school boards are suing the parent companies of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, alleging they have disrupted the education system by created products that negligently interfere with student learning.
"I’m not sure what value it would bring if school boards in Alberta wanted to sue social media companies," said Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides in a statement to CTV News.
"The primary responsibility of our school boards is to hire teachers and work to deliver a world-class education to our students, and it’s my view that they should be focused on this."
Nicolaides says there are concerns around cellphone and social media use in classrooms leading to harassment and cyber bullying.
"We are also reviewing our learning and technology policy, which is over ten years old and needs updating," said Nicolaides.
"One of my priorities is to ensure students build a strong foundation of personal wellness, which includes understanding the challenges that sometimes come with social media use."
The Calgary Board of Education says it is not considering a lawsuit at this time.
The Calgary Catholic School District says it cares deeply about the well-being of students and recognizes the sometimes challenging impact of social media on student learning
"We teach our students about online safety and how it is important to be caring, responsible digital citizens," read a statement.
"We also encourage parents/guardians, as their child’s primary educator, to promote and monitor healthy and safe online behavior."
Philip McRae, associate coordinator of research at the Alberta Teacher Association, says social media adoption starts around the ages of 10 and 14.
"People will scroll on TikTok or whatever for 1.7 miles a day," he said. "That's how much your thumb is moving, 1.7 miles a day of infinite scroll."
McRae says there needs to be separation from screen time to allow students to succeed.
"While young people are connected, and getting even more hyper-connected, they're increasingly becoming disconnected," McRae said.
"And that disconnection in terms of relationships, a disconnection or a fragmentation of their friendship groups, at times, is where we really see the social media issue in particular."
McRae adds that anxiety and depression is also rising in students.
"Young women [are concerned about] body image, young men [are concerned about] some of the cyberbullying or the aggression," he said.
"There are a lot of things happening in those spaces that are being seen as more problematic."
Mel Varga, owner of Digital Black Belt Consulting, focuses on screen time and social media use in the classroom.
He says teachers and educators have a tough time focusing students when dealing with social media giants.
"You're competing against a company that has unlimited resources, they probably have hundreds, if not thousands, of engineers, and their only job is to find ways to keep all of us online," he said.
"I'm seeing kids, Grade 5, Grade 6, getting a smartphone. I think that's absolutely crazy. I think that it really needs to be delayed until about Grade 8."
He says social media use should be restricted even more with children, waiting until at least high school.
"Sixteen seems to be a good point to get into it," said Varga.
"Kids are a bit more mature, maybe a little more confident, they can handle that. I've spoken to some students, they're struggling, but they go, 'It's tough because my parent is always on their device.' They're always on FaceTime or whatever it happens to be. So parents need to be really aware, kids are watching and the kids are learning from them."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Poilievre unrepentant over calling Trudeau 'wacko' as his MPs say Speaker should resign
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he does not regret calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 'wacko,' and now his MPs are renewing calls for the House of Commons Speaker to resign, this time over ordering the Official Opposition leader to leave the chamber.
Is it cold, flu or norovirus? Symptoms explained
The highly contagious norovirus is spreading across Canada, with some symptoms overlapping with other viruses. CTVNews.ca spoke with a health expert to find out how you can tell you have norovirus, the most common form of stomach flu, and what to do if you have it.
Freeland leaves capital gains tax change out of coming budget implementation bill, here's why
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be tabling yet another omnibus bill to pass a sweeping range of measures promised in her April 16 federal budget, though left out of the legislation will be the government's proposed capital gains tax change.
Anger can harm your blood vessel function, study shows
Stress and anger can have a negative impact on cardiovascular health, studies have shown. New research points to just how the mechanism may work.
Ontario's police watchdog continues probe of high-speed pursuit involving fatal crash
The investigation continues into a collision that killed two grandparents and their infant grandchild during a high-speed police chase on the wrong way of Highway 401 east of Toronto.
Ontario woman surprised after 20-year-old fines suddenly tank credit score
An Ontario woman says that she was shocked when fines from 20 years ago suddenly tanked her credit score last week, but the situation may not be as unusual as it seems, according to at least one debt expert.
Search continues for 'armed man' in Dartmouth, N.S.
Police say they continue to search for an armed man who allegedly threatened people in Dartmouth, N.S.
Swarm of bees delays Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Los Angeles game in Arizona. An 'MVP' beekeeper came to the rescue
Major League Baseball fans had an unexpected buzz on Tuesday after a swarm of bees delayed the Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Los Angeles Dodgers game for around two hours.
Newfoundland fisherman says police broke his leg during protest that delayed budget
Richard Martin is spending this year's fishing season on land after he says a Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officer broke his left leg in three places during a protest last month that shut down the provincial legislature.