NC House Bill 959 Requires Social Media Literacy in K-12: Here’s How Your School Can Take Action
Starting in the 2026-2027 school year, every public school in North Carolina will be required to teach social media and online safety as part of their curriculum, according to House Bill 959, the state’s new social media literacy law.
With 95% of teens online daily, social media is simply how students are social, and has been for years. It’s how students learn, connect, and define themselves. Rather than taking an old school approach (scaring and restricting), this new law aligns with The Social Institute’s proactive and positive approach and gives K-12 school leaders a clear mandate: empower and equip students with the tools to make positive decisions as they navigate social media.
What does House Bill 959 require of schools?
HB 959 mandates that social media and online safety instruction be integrated into classroom instruction beginning in 2026. Specifically, schools must teach students how to:
- Critically evaluate online content
- Protect their online privacy and personal data
- Engage in responsible and positive social media use
This law moves beyond banning or blocking students from social media platforms. It focuses on empowering students with modern life skills they need to thrive online and offline, to impact their learning, well-being, and futures.
How The Social Institute Addresses Each of the Requirements of HB 959
At The Social Institute—a North Carolina-based edtech company—we’ve been preparing for this exact moment for years. #WinAtSocial Lessons for grades K-12 are aligned to The Social Institute’s Seven Social Standards and can be used to address the requirements of HB 959. According to the new bill, this instruction must include at least:
Requirement 1: Understanding negative effects of social media on mental health, including addiction
How We Support This:
Our approach, called #WinAtSocial, teaches students to understand social media’s impact on their brains and addiction through concepts like Strike a Balance and Handle the Pressure. Students will learn to recognize the impact of excessive screen time, doomscrolling, and digital addiction and explore the connection between social media habits and well-being, learning how to set boundaries, protect their well-being, and seek support when needed. Additionally, educators are able to review student well-being over time to understand changes and student needs.
Requirement 2: The distribution of misinformation on social media
How We Support This:
#WinAtSocial teaches students to recognize and stop the spread of misinformation through concepts like Play to Your Core and Use Your Mic for Good. Through real-world examples, like viral rumors, A.I.-generated images, and biased sources, students will learn how to think critically, question what they see online, evaluate credibility, and understand how algorithms can amplify false information. They will also reflect on the role they play in sharing or challenging misinformation.
Requirement 3: Methods of manipulating behavior using social media
How We Support This:
#WinAtSocial empowers students to understand how social media can shape their behavior through lessons like Handle the Pressure and Find Your Influencers. Students will explore how algorithms, notifications, and influencers are designed to grab attention and influence decisions, from what they buy to how they act and look. They will learn to spot manipulation, think critically about the content they engage with, and build habits that reflect their values, not just what’s trending. It’s all about helping students lead, not follow, in today’s social media-filled world.
Requirement 4: The permanency of information shared online
How We Support This:
#WinAtSocial helps students understand the lasting impact of what they share online through lessons like Protect Your Privacy Like You’re Famous and Play to Your Core. Students will learn that no matter how quickly they disappear, posts, photos, and comments can easily be screenshotted, shared, and live on beyond their control. They will learn how to pause before posting, think about their reputation online and offline, and make positive decisions that reflect who they are and who they want to be.
Requirement 5: How to maintain personal security
How We Support This:
#WinAtSocial empowers students to take control of their personal security through lessons like Protect Your Privacy Like You’re Famous and Play to Your Core. Students will learn practical ways to stay safe online, from creating strong passwords and avoiding phishing scams to understanding what personal information should, and shouldn’t, be shared. They will also explore how to spot red flags, protect their accounts, and use in-app privacy settings to take ownership of their online lives.
Requirement 6: How to identify cyberbullying, predatory behavior, and human trafficking on the internet
How We Support This:
Through #WinAtSocial Cyberback Lessons, students are equipped to recognize signs of subtle and overt bullying, especially masked behind slang, memes, or inside jokes. Students will learn how bullying can look different online than in real life and how to support peers who may be targeted. Through age-appropriate discussions about online safety, digital red flags, and how strangers may attempt to build trust or manipulate students, students are empowered to make their online spaces safe.
Requirement 7: How to report suspicious behavior encountered on the internet
How We Support This:
#WinAtSocial empowers students to take action when they encounter suspicious or harmful behavior online through concepts like Cyberback and Use Your Mic for Good. Students will learn how to identify red flags and how to report them to a trusted adult, educator, or the app’s platform. They will explore real-world scenarios that show the importance of speaking up, and they will practice how to respond in ways that protect themselves and others. #WinAtSocial empowers students to stay alert and report suspicious activities, so students know they’re not alone in navigating online challenges.
Requirement 8: Personal and interpersonal skills or character education that enhances protective factors and reduces risk-taking or harmful behavior
How We Support This:
#WinAtSocial builds essential personal and interpersonal skills through all of our Seven Social Standards. Students strengthen their modern life skills, like self-awareness, empathy, decision-making, self-control, and critical thinking, which reduce risky behavior and support well-being. Through real-life scenarios, peer conversations, and reflection, students learn how to stay true to their values, support others, and make positive choices online and off. With #WinAtSocial, educators equip students to navigate challenges with character and confidence, helping them thrive in today’s tech-fueled and social media-filled world.
Bring social media literacy to your school or district
Schools across North Carolina (and the world!) already partner with The Social Institute to stay ahead of this requirement and empower their students with modern life skills that will impact their learning, well-being, and futures through:
- Turnkey lessons that are easy for teachers to run and aligned with NC’s new law
- Real-world scenarios that resonate with students
- Professional development to empower educators
- Relevant resources to include families in the conversation about what their student is learning
With HB 959, North Carolina is taking a bold, student-centered step toward preparing the next generation for life online. If you’re looking for a trusted, proven partner to meet these new requirements in your school community, we’re here to help. Request a demo today of #WinAtSocial, the proactive approach to empowering students to navigate social media in high-character ways. Together, we can help every student thrive—online and off.
The Social Institute (TSI) is the leader in equipping students to navigate learning & well-being in a tech-fueled world. Through #WinAtSocial, our interactive, peer-to-peer learning platform, we empower students, educators, and families to make high-character choices online and offline. #WinAtSocial Lessons teach essential skills while capturing student voice and actionable insights for educators. These insights help educators maintain a healthy school culture, foster high-impact teaching, and build meaningful relationships with families. Our unique, student-respected approach empowers and equips students authentically, enabling our solution to increase classroom participation and improve student-teacher relationships. Through our one-of-a-kind lesson development process, we create lessons for a variety of core and elective classes, incorporating timely topics such as social media, A.I., screen time, misinformation, and current events to help schools stay proactive in supporting student health, happiness, and academic success.