Press Release: 2025-01-17

AG Campbell Introduces "The STUDY Act" To Promote Safe Technology Use and Distraction-Free Education For Youth

 



Bill Seeks to Prohibit Student Access to Personal Electronic Devices During the School Day, Regulate Social Media Companies to Combat Harmful Effects on Youth. Campbell Co-Sponsors Legislation to Protect Ratepayers from Competitive Electric Suppliers, Co



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:



1/17/2025



MEDIA CONTACT



Molly McGlynn, Communications Director



 Phone



Call Molly McGlynn, Communications Director at 617-727-2543



 Online



Email Molly McGlynn, Communications Director at Molly.McGlynn@mass.gov



BOSTON — As part of her legislative agenda, 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 seeks to implement a “bell-to-bell" restriction on access to cell phones and personal electronic devices during school hours to improve the overall learning environment and school culture. It 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.



As part of her 2025-2026 legislative agenda, AG Campbell has also reaffirmed her efforts to protect residents from the unfair and deceptive practices of competitive electric suppliers by once again partnering with Senator Brendan Crighton, Representative Frank Moran, and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu in support of SD1545/HD2530 An Act relative to electric ratepayer protections, a bill that would bar this predatory industry from enrolling new residential costumers. According to the Office's new 2025 report, consumers lost approximately $73.7 million through competitive electric supply contracts between July 2023 and June 2024 for a total of $651.3 million lost over the nine years studied by the Office. The Office’s analysis has found that low-income residents and residents in communities of color are disproportionately harmed by this industry.    



The Attorney General also co-sponsored the following bills:




  • SD1525/HD2920, An Act relative to combating hate in the Commonwealth, filed by Representative Tram Nguyen and Senator Adam Gomez, would address the increase in hate incidents throughout the state by strengthening our civil rights laws and enforcement tools and providing additional protections for victims of hate and bias. 

  • SD615/HD2886 An Act relative to the victim compensation program, filed by Representative Kathleen LaNatra and Senator Cynthia Stone Creem, would move the victim compensation program to the Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance such that survivors of crime can access both compensation and services under one umbrella, survivor-centered organization. 

  • SD1648/HD2938, An Act modernizing protections for consumers in automobile transactions, filed by Representative Carlos González and Senator Paul Feeney, would modernize state laws around used vehicle purchases and would ensure that consumers are better able to access valuable safeguards under the state’s Lemon Law and Used Vehicle Warranty law.  

  • SD1209/HD2405, An Act relative to fairness in debt collection, filed by Representative Tram Nguyen, Representative Christine Barber, and Senator Jamie Eldridge, would reform the state’s debt collection laws by improving protections for consumers in debt collection actions and protecting our most vulnerable consumers from predatory debt collection practices.  



AG Campbell’s 2025-2026 legislative agenda was developed by Division Chief Anne Johnson Landry, Senior Policy Advisors Lisa Sears, Jim McCarthy, Alex Gray, and Danielle Allard, and Senior Policy Coordinator Robert Fernandez, all of the AG’s Policy and Government Affairs Division, and Senior Advisor for Climate and Energy Benny Meshoulam of the Energy and Ratepayer Advocacy Division.



###



Statements of Support



“Improving mental health for all students has been my top priority as Education Secretary. Research continues to show cellphones in the classroom can be a harmful distraction that impacts emotional wellbeing and impedes a student’s ability to learn. We continue to hear feedback from parents, teachers, and staff that a more comprehensive approach is necessary to ensure children’s academic success and social and emotional wellbeing. We look forward to working with the Attorney General and Legislature to address that,”said Massachusetts Secretary of Education Dr. Patrick Tutwiler. 



"I'm so glad I went to middle school and high school before the advent of social media. I truly believe my education and social development were all the better for not having a smart phone on me at all times. By creating a 'bell-to-bell' policy, we're giving students the opportunity to engage with their education unfettered by digital distraction. Our bill also sets important standards for social media companies, holding these corporations accountable for the safety and mental health of the youth who use their products. I'm proud to stand with Attorney General Campbell, Representative Peisch, Representative Lipper-Garabedian and my colleagues in the Legislature to pass common-sense legislation to protect the health and future of the next generation,” said Senator Julian Cyr.



“I am proud to partner with Attorney General Campbell, Representative Lipper-Garabedian, and Senator Cyr on this important initiative. As we know, phones and similar devices are having negative impacts on student learning and their mental health. I believe this bill will allow schools to devise successful, implementable policies regarding the use of technology devices, putting the focus back on learning and fostering healthier peer-to-peer relationships. This legislation also includes provisions to further protect children from the dangers of social media by requiring schools to educate students on the social, emotional, and physical harms that can be caused by such platforms. I look forward to working with my colleagues, as well as parents and educators across the Commonwealth on this matter,” said Representative Alice Hanlon Peisch 



"As a mother of two school-age boys and a former seventh grade teacher, I am all too aware of the impacts that cellphone use can have on a student's learning and focus. The STUDY Act will ensure that students are free from the distractions of phones at school, allowing them to fully engage in learning and foster deeper connections with peers and teachers. I further am mindful of the harmful effects that predatory social media platforms and algorithms can have on a child's social and emotional wellbeing. The STUDY Act will protect kids on social media platforms with enhanced privacy safeguards against addictive feeds and content. I am excited to join Leader Peisch, Senator Cyr, and Attorney General Campbell on this effort,” Representative Kate Lipper-Garabedian 



"The MTA and its 117,000 members are united in sounding the alarm about the impact of cellphones and social media on our schools and students. They see every day how phones detract from learning, how they facilitate bullying, how they have pernicious influences on the development of authentic friendships, and how they take precious time away from play and sleep and real-world human connection. Our members believe that every one of our schools need to take steps to eliminate the harm caused by these phones and social media, so we can reclaim the schools our students, our members, and communities deserve,” said Max Page, President, and Deb McCarthy, Vice President, of the Massachusetts Teachers Association