In an effort to create a safer environment for teens, social platform Snapchat is providing educators with resources to familiarize them with the app and help them understand how students use it. The company has launched a website called “An Educator’s Guide to Snapchat.” The announcement, timed to the start of the new school year, comes as lawmakers have been pressuring social networks to do more to protect children, with Florida and Indiana going so far as to enact school cell phone bans. Legislators in California and New York have been exploring similar prohibitions.

“Snapchat says more than 20 million teens in the U.S. use its app, and a 2023 Pew study found that Snapchat is the third-most-used app among teens,” writes TechCrunch, noting that “while Snapchat has released a handful of features over the past few years to protect teens on its app, Wednesday’s announcement is dedicated to bringing these efforts into the classroom.”

Snap’s Educator’s Guide website “includes an overview of how the platform works, ways Snapchat can be used positively within school communities, and information about our safety tools and Community Guidelines,” the company explains in an announcement.

It also includes videos explaining Snap’s features for schools and safeguards for teens and downloadable resources “that educators can share with parents, counselors and others to help students handle risks they may face online, including bullying, mental health concerns” and more.

Additionally, “Snapchat is launching a new feedback form for educators to share how Snapchat is being used in their schools and to give feedback directly to the social network,” Snapchat says.

Sixteen percent of high school students experienced electronic bullying in 2023, Axios reports, using statistics taken from a new study by the CDC. “While some youth mental health metrics have improved since the start of COVID, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has urged for more supportive school environments in its latest youth risk behavior report,” Axios says.

Snap’s move comes as government officials warn of mental health risks associated with social media. In January, New York City declared social media “a public health threat.” This summer, New York Governor Kathy Hochul undertook a listening tour aimed at teachers and parents that Government Technology said “inched toward a statewide ban on smartphones in schools.”