NEW CUMBERLAND — Hancock County Schools officials are moving forward with plans to join a nationwide lawsuit focused on the potential impact of social media on the mental health of today’s youth.

As part of Monday’s meeting of the Hancock County Board of Education, members agreed to contract with the Weirton-based law firm of Frankovitch, Anetakis, Simon, Decapio & Pearl to represent the school district in the effort.

The decision followed a 25-minute executive session called at the beginning of Monday’s meeting.

Following Monday’s meeting, Superintendent Dan Enich explained the decision rested on the firm’s experience with such national class-action lawsuits as well as connections within the campaign against the social media platforms.

“They have a seat on the steering committee of this effort,” Enich said.

Enich noted another local law firm also had submitted a proposal to represent the school district.

“Between the two law firms, there was no wrong choice,” he said.

While no one addressed the board, representatives of both Frankovitch, Anetakis, Simon, Decapio & Pearl, and the law firm of Rokisky, McCune, Wilharm, Blair & Risovich were in attendance at Monday’s meeting. All of the representatives left the meeting following the vote from the board.

The school board raised the possibility of taking part in such a lawsuit during its Oct. 27 meeting.

At the time, Enich noted the topic has been discussed amongst officials from several of West Virginia’s school systems, with some having already joined one of the thousands of documented class-action lawsuits currently filed — many against four specific social media companies or platforms, including TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube and Meta.

According to a survey conducted by Johns Hopkins, nearly half of teens interviewed say they use the internet “almost constantly,” and nine in 10 teens use social media daily. In addition, almost 40percent of children between the ages of 8 and 12 participating in the survey reported use of social media, even though many platforms have a required minimum age of 13.

While the study indicates some positive aspects of social media use, including access to information, safe places to express themselves and opportunities for community interactions, it warns of potential negative side effects including social isolation, lack of healthy activities and lack of sleep.

Enich indicated there had not been any specific incident within Hancock County Schools which led to the decision to join the legal effort.