Social media use by young people in the U.S. is nearly universal. It also may be harmful to them, according to an advisory out this week from the Surgeon General.

The report cites research stating that a third of teenagers are on social media “nearly constantly.” There can be benefits to that, but there can be costs, too. And schools are already grappling with where — and how — students access social media during the day.

At Huntley High School in northern Illinois, Principal Marcus Belin said the majority of discipline issues get started on social media. 

“You made a comment to me or said something to me or tagged me in something at nine o’clock at night — the first time I’m going to see you is at 7:30 when we walk in the building, and a fight breaks out,” he explained.

Belin said it’s hard to control how students use social media outside the classroom and that some have trouble regulating their use inside school, too. 

“Like their phone physically has to be within arm’s reach or on their person in order for them to feel some level of comfort,” Belin said.

In the college classes that Jim Steyer of the digital literacy non-profit Common Sense Media teaches, he doesn’t allow social media use (or device use at all). He says it diverts students’ attention, and there’s a real cost to that. 

“We’re going to have to spend more dollars to educate young people if they’re distracted half the time,” Steyer said.

Principal Marcus Belin is a big user of social media himself, and sees its power to connect with students and parents. But he also points out that it’s a skill to function without technology, both in some workplaces and in life. And if schools don’t teach kids how to do that, they’ll have failed them.