{"id":12223,"date":"2026-03-20T17:29:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T23:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/courts-consider-whether-social-media-is-addictive-cortez-area-parents-and-schools-say-yes\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:31:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:31:20","slug":"courts-consider-whether-social-media-is-addictive-cortez-area-parents-and-schools-say-yes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/courts-consider-whether-social-media-is-addictive-cortez-area-parents-and-schools-say-yes\/","title":{"rendered":"Courts consider whether social media is addictive. Cortez\u2011area parents and schools say yes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"In
In a landmark trial, a young Californian woman claims the social media addiction she experienced as a minor caused her mental health to worsen. Cortez area parents, law enforcement officials and school staff see similar patterns. (AP file photo)<\/span>dur-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Fourteen-year-old Kanyin Palmer\u2019s beloved fantasy novels might not be too far removed from reality.<\/p>\n

The series she\u2019s reading, \u201cMichael Vey,\u201d follows a group of high schoolers who wield electrical powers. Throughout the books, they battle a sinister organization seeking to use the kids\u2019 powers to achieve world domination.<\/p>\n

Much like \u201cMichael Vey,\u201d many kids across the U.S. are gifted with a power of electricity through a small phone screen that fits in their palms.<\/p>\n

Lawyers for a California woman argue in a landmark trial that the social media apps accessible through these screens are addictive and harmful for young people. Last week, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified about child safety on Instagram in front of the jury tasked with deciding whether her lawyers are right.<\/p>\n

\"Meta
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives Feb. 18 for landmark trial in Los Angeles over whether social media platforms deliberately addict and harm children. (Ryan Sun\/The Associated Press)<\/span>dur-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cOur teachers constantly have to say, \u2018OK, guys, no phones, no phones.\u2019 And it can just get out of hand,\u201d Kanyin said of her eighth grade peers at Montezuma\u2013Cortez Middle School. \u201cWhenever some kids do have free time, the first thought they have is to pull out their phone and pull out Instagram or TikTok or whatever platform it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201caddictive\u201d component in the California trial is one of the most contested as experts weigh in on whether social media can be addictive like tobacco. Parents, school staff and law enforcement officials in Cortez, Mancos and Dolores argue that it is.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese social media platforms are set up to stimulate a child\u2019s brain in a way that gives them dopamine,\u201d said Josh Gardner, the dean of students at Mancos Middle School. \u201cWhen you take that away, it\u2019s painful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mancos Middle School, which adopted a phone ban two years<\/a> ago, now says students are more attentive and engaged during class. But social media use outside the classroom continues to affect children\u2019s relationships and academics.<\/p>\n

\"Mancos
Mancos Middle School requires students to turn their phones off and keep them away throughout the school day. (The Journal file photo)<\/span>The Journal file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s almost like they go through the five stages of grief,\u201d Garner said of middle schoolers who have their phones confiscated in class.<\/p>\n

Children under 13 are not permitted to create Instagram accounts; however, lawyers for the young woman in the California trial presented a 2015 internal Instagram document estimating that 4 million of its users were under 13. A 2024 survey of 885 Coloradans ages 12 to 17 found that kids spent an average of 2.6 hours per day on social media and that prolonged use correlated with an increase in mental health days per month.<\/p>\n

Gardner estimated that 75% of his middle school students are on social media. Jennifer Kuntz, a language arts teacher at Dolores High School, estimated that 95% of her students are on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we try to remove cellphones or confiscate them during class, the reaction is intense,\u201d Kuntz said. \u201cIt\u2019s much the same as taking a cigarette from a smoker or alcohol from an alcoholic. They get volatile, they get abrasive, they get combative.\u201d<\/p>\n

She has caught students scrolling on social media during class, watching as their attention spans decreased with increased access to short\u2011form content. She said many students stopped reading.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a whole marketing ploy to get people addicted. It\u2019s \u2013 quite frankly, I believe \u2013 disgusting,\u201d Kuntz said.<\/p>\n

Kuntz\u2019s dissertation for her master\u2019s degree focuses on adolescent illiteracy and its relation to smartphone use. Given her research, she believes the instant gratification available on phones is the catalyst for students\u2019 apathy toward reading. Gardner sees those effects bleeding into unstructured play, which the American Psychological Association says supports physical, mental and social development.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe screen time is substituting our kids\u2019 free playtime,\u201d Gardner said.<\/p>\n

With social media, Gardner added, kids are meaner. Officer Karla Ross, who served as the Cortez Police Department\u2019s school resource officer for five years until 2025, agrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have children that are committing suicide from being cyberbullied. I\u2019ve seen students withdraw from school, and even change schools just because of the issues they were having involving the internet,\u201d Ross said. \u201cI saw anything and everything from sexting to fake profiles to just flat\u2011out meanness.\u201d<\/p>\n

These issues, she said, were not limited to a certain age group. They manifested in elementary schools too.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt breaks my heart. Honestly, I\u2019m sad a lot of the time, the way kids treat each other through social media,\u201d Ross said.<\/p>\n

While Kanyin\u2019s parents don\u2019t allow her to have social media, it\u2019s a part of her middle school world. She said the cyberbullying and drama on those platforms <\/a>impacts school time. The collision of the online and in\u2011person worlds creates a strange dynamic, she noted, separating those with social media from those without.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s sort of weird because something might have happened on social media platforms that others don\u2019t really know about, but then others sort of secretly know,\u201d Kanyin said. \u201cIt\u2019s like this invisible boundary or invisible block.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Students
Students at Montezuma-Cortez Middle School are not allowed to use phones during class, but they may access them during lunch and after-school activities. (Journal file photo)<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Kanyin\u2019s mom, Torrey Palmer, intends to keep that boundary in place. She has complete control over her daughter\u2019s phone, which doesn\u2019t have internet access. Her daughter must request approval to download apps or save a new contact.<\/p>\n

Palmer said teenagers are vulnerable to social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like it hurts their ability to communicate in person,\u201d Palmer said. \u201cParents can do a better job by limiting social media all together until late high school.\u201d<\/p>\n

She recommended the Gabb or Troomi phones, smartphones with restricted internet and built\u2011in parental controls. Palmer says she\u2019s been lucky because some of her daughter\u2019s friends don\u2019t have phones and very few use social media.<\/p>\n

But for Palmer, who uses Facebook and Instagram to post her photography and stay in touch with loved ones, restricting her own social media use is difficult. The 10 minutes she intends to spend sorting through posts quickly turns into an hour.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s that hard for me to control it, it\u2019s just going to be 10 times harder for our kids,\u201d Palmer said.<\/p>\n

Ross, who waited to give her son a phone until he was 16, thinks every parent should read \u201cParenting in the Digital World: A Step\u2011by\u2011Step Guide to Internet Safety\u201d by Clayton Cranford. It shows parents how to block certain apps and navigate conversations about online safety.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Dolores High School, after witnessing the effects of a school\u2011day phone ban on its middle schoolers, will implement similar rules for its students after spring break.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s been really beneficial for those groups of kids. We have seen an increase in meaningful interactions, and they\u2019re more engaged in classroom activities, and they\u2019re less distracted by having that constant access,\u201d Kuntz said.<\/p>\n

While the California jury continues to hear testimony, more than 1,500 other people suing social media companies are watching closely. If Meta and YouTube are found liable, the outcome could have a domino effect on thousands of other suits claiming social media companies caused similar harms and promoted addictive behaviors.<\/p>\n

However, the outcome likely won\u2019t affect Kanyin. In her beloved \u201cMichael Vey\u201d books, the teens have the power.<\/p>\n

avanderveen@the-journal.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A California woman seeks to prove Meta and YouTube\u2019s products are addictive and harmful to minors; parents and school officials say they know the answer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-12223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12223"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77037,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12223\/revisions\/77037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12223"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=12223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}