SB 897 — Student Technology and Social Media Resource Guide (Maryland)
Status and timing
- Bill: SB 897 (Senator Love). Enacted and signed by the Governor May 15, 2025. The statutory text states the Act takes effect July 1, 2025.
- Key implementation dates: NCSMH must complete a needs assessment by September 1, 2026. The resource guide must be posted and distributed on or before the first day of the 2027–2028, 2028–2029, and 2029–2030 school years (with staged content rollouts each year). Annual expenditure reports begin July 1, 2027.
Purpose
- Require the National Center for School Mental Health (NCSMH) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, in consultation with the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), to develop, publish, and annually update an age‑appropriate Student Technology and Social Media Resource Guide for preK–grade 12 students, caregivers, and schools.
Key provisions
- Needs assessment (due Sept 1, 2026): identify existing State/federal resources, existing family education efforts on youth mental health and technology, and gaps to inform guide development.
- Staged guide development:
- 2027–2028: cover commonly used technology products for personal use by children.
- 2028–2029: add commonly used technology products used in education delivery.
- 2029–2030: publish the guide as a multimedia product covering prior content.
- Required guide contents:
- Age‑appropriate information and best practices to help students and caregivers understand how technology/social media can be used and misused and to support informed decision‑making.
- Guidance on safe internet/technology/social media use across categories including social media platforms, online games, artificial intelligence products, e‑commerce, smartphones, laptops, virtual communication platforms, and any product/service used to communicate via the Internet.
- If information gaps exist for a category, the guide must note that gap and may reference other State, federal, nonprofit, or public resources.
- A service and product landscape review for specific products/services with: name; function; privacy/safety/security/data concerns; whether it has addictive qualities; how students access it (including via school‑provided devices); potential harms (emotional, psychological, physical); and potential positive/negative academic impacts.
- Plain English language, NCSMH contact information, and translated copies on request.
- Distribution and updates:
- On or before the first day of specified school years the guide must be posted on MSDE and county board websites, updated annually, and distributed to each public school and its parent‑teacher organization.
- Reporting and oversight:
- NCSMH must report annually (first report due July 1, 2027) to the General Assembly on fund expenditures used for research, development, and updates.
- Funding:
- The Governor must include a mandated appropriation to NCSMH: $100,000 for FY2027 and $125,000 for each of FY2028 and FY2029 to support the needs assessment and guide development (fiscal note confirms these increases to University System of Maryland general fund expenditures).
Who is affected
- Primary: Maryland public school students (preK–12) and their caregivers.
- Secondary: MSDE, county boards of education, public schools and parent‑teacher organizations, and the NCSMH/University of Maryland School of Medicine (responsible for development, translation, reporting). Local school systems are responsible for posting/distributing using existing resources.
Fiscal and administrative impact
- State: USM general fund expenditures increase per mandated appropriations (FY2027: $100,000; FY2028–FY2029: $125,000/year). MSDE can collaborate and host the guide with existing resources.
- Local: school systems will post and distribute materials using existing resources.
Context
- There is no current statutory requirement to produce such a statewide student technology and social media guide; SB 897 establishes that requirement and a multi‑year, staged rollout with specified content and reporting.
