Central Florida Parent Teacher Associations, or PTAs, will receive funding from TikTok to teach students and parents how to be safer online.
The move comes as concerns continue to grow regarding the safety of young people on these platforms.
Funding in Central Florida will go to PTAs at Ocoee, Dr. Phillips and Jones High Schools. The company is also awarding funding to Florida’s statewide Kaleidoscope PTA.
TikTok’s Lead Outreach and Partnerships Manager Ronald Taylor said the money can be used to support programming in schools aimed at building safer digital boundaries.
He said that might look like workshops where parents and kids can have breakout conversations about social media or even roleplay online safety. The funding can also be used to provide services to support these workshops, including translators, and childcare to allow parents to participate.
“Our goal within this Create with Kindness program is for teens and parents to take away tangible tips for creating safe digital boundaries, right? It's a conversation, and it's more so about empowering families to make wise decisions,” said Taylor.
In total, 100 high schools will receive more than $300,000 in funding, months before a potential nationwide ban on TikTok could take effect.
In September, TikTok appealed a nationwide ban that would take effect in the new year, unless the company is sold to a U.S. government approved buyer before that time.
Under a law passed by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden, Chinese parent company ByteDance has until January 19 to sell the company to an American buyer or face a ban.
The law would make it illegal for web-hosting services to support TikTok, and the TikTok app would be removed from Google and Apple stores.
Biden and other U.S. officials have cited national security concerns with TikTok, along with mental health concerns for TikTok’s youngest users.
Earlier this year, Governor Ron DeSantis signed HB 3 into law, which prohibits children under the age of 14 from opening up a social media account in the state and allows 14- and 15-year-olds to use social media but only with parental supervision.
DeSantis and other Republican lawmakers also cited concerns when it came to the safety and mental wellbeing of young people who use these platforms.
Even U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy wants social media companies to warn users that their platforms have been tied to rising mental health issues in teens, kind of like cigarette companies do with cancer.
A study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month found, a direct correlation between frequent social media use and an increase in feelings of sadness or hopelessness, bullying, and suicidal ideation.
Read the full CDC study here:
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