Massachusetts Funds School Lessons on Online Safety
Massachusetts is investing $1.75 million in grants for public schools, charter schools, and educational collaboratives to teach online safety. The program will support instruction on cyberbullying, data privacy, and identifying false or AI-generated content, with grants of up to $60,000 each. The funding is part of a larger $2 million online safety allocation in the fiscal 2027 budget and follows other state efforts on youth technology use.
Massachusetts will distribute 25 to 30 awards of as much as $60,000 through its education department. Districts, charter schools, and collaboratives may apply by Nov. 9 at 5 p.m.; funded lessons must run during the 2026–27 school year.
The grants sit within a $2 million fiscal 2027 online safety allocation, including $250,000 for videos and materials. They follow a $1 million cellphone-reduction grant effort and a new ban on AI deepfake pornography involving minors. A $17.1 billion Meta settlement also includes youth digital wellness funding.
Students, teachers, and families could benefit from lessons on privacy, cyberbullying, and false or AI-generated content, potentially improving digital literacy and online resilience. Schools may need to integrate new material into crowded schedules and decide how to measure results. The grants could also reinforce broader state and settlement-backed efforts, though the program’s limited number of awards may constrain its overall reach.