33° and Clear
Image
1-27-2025 12:23am
AG Campbell Introduces "The Study Act" That Would Restrict Cell Phones, Personal Electronic Devices During School
Darlene Cancell
Editor
If a bill introduced in the middle of this month is passed, schools across the Commonwealth will implement a "bell-t0-bell" restriction on access to cell phones and personal electronic devices, with the purpose of improving overall learning and school culture. Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, alongside Senator Julian Cyr, Representative Alice Hanlon Peisch and Representative Kate Lipper-Garabedian, have introduced the STUDY Act, SD654/HD3070 An Act promoting Safe Technology Use and Distraction-free education for Youth. The bill also proposes standards for social media companies that encourage safe and responsible use.
“The STUDY Act puts students and their mental health first. By restricting cellphones during the school day and raising the bar for social media companies, we are taking bold steps to create learning environments free from distraction and a digital landscape that prioritizes the well-being of our youth. This bill is a commitment to both education and mental health for our young people, ensuring they have the tools to succeed without unnecessary harm,” said AG Campbell.
As a growing number of schools adopt policies to restrict cell phone use during the school day, the STUDY Act would require all public schools to have formal policies regarding the use of cell phones, tablets, and other personal electronic devices on school grounds and at school-sponsored activities. Each policy must prevent students from physically accessing their personal electronic devices during school hours. Exemptions to the policy would be provided in certain circumstances, such as to accommodate a student’s needs as provided by their individualized education program or health plan.
The STUDY Act also requires schools to have a policy educating students about the social, emotional and physical harms of social media use. Research, including evidence described by the U.S. Surgeon General, has shown the negative impact of social media use on mental health. For example, after one hour of social media use per day, adolescent mental health steeply declines and decreases in happiness and self-esteem occur, alongside increases in self-harm, depression and behavioral changes.
Phone use in schools can lead to distractions in learning, shortened attention span, increased anxiety, negative peer interactions and increases in cyberbullying, harassment and hate incidents. In fact, 72% of high school teachers cite cell phone use as a major problem in classrooms.
Recognizing that social media companies have an immense responsibility to keep users safe, the bill calls on the companies to implement procedures including but not limited to:
- Age verification system to determine whether a user meets age requirements under law and keep any information about a user’s age confidential from third-party use
- Default settings for a minor user to ensure privacy and limit prolonged engagement by disabling features like notifications between certain hours, autoplay, and continuous scrolling
- Features for a user to flag unwanted or harmful content and regular surveys for the user to indicate to the company that they don’t want this type of content on their feed
- Regular warnings from social media platforms to the user on the negative effects of social media use on social, emotional and physical health
The STUDY Act was drafted with input from members of AG Campbell’s Youth Council. The Act reinforces AG Campbell’s multi-faceted approach to protect young people from the harms of social media. AG Campbell has filed lawsuits against Meta, and its subsidiary Instagram, as well as TikTok, for designing its social media platforms to addict young users and deceiving the public about efforts to keep its platform safe.
Thanks to the Massachusetts Office of Attorney General for sharing this news with Westwood Minute.
