The Seneca Valley School Board is looking to local legislators for help with what they see as detrimental effects of social media on students.

The board unanimously approved a resolution on Monday “supporting additional safeguards for internet and technology applications to protect our children.”

The resolution highlights several statistics on the use of electronics gleaned from various studies, all of which were cited in the document.

The statistics included claims that those who spend more than two hours per day on social media are more prone to mental health issues like anxiety and depression and increased levels of psychological distress and suicidal idealization.

Other claims are that the one in five students who wakes up to check their social media accounts at night are tired during the school day, 78% of teens check their devices at least hourly, teens aged 13 to 18 average seven hours, 22 minutes of entertainment screen time per day, 43% of teens say they use their phones to avoid human interaction, and 65% of parents worry about the amount of time their children spend in front of a screen.

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