Conversations With Teens: Back to School With AI

Artificial intelligence. By this point, most of us know what it is: really advanced computer systems with access to a wealth of human knowledge (usually via the internet) that allows it to imitate human behavior. And by this point, many of us also have strong feelings about AI—some positive and some very, very negative.

Personally, I land somewhere in the middle. I see the potential for AI to revolutionize science and medicine. But I also see AI’s flaws—how it has led people to harm themselves or others, how it has been used to create explicit imagery of children, how it has made people lazier.

But today, I want to focus on how AI is affecting schools.

The Problem(s)

AI can be a great tool for educators. Because it can translate and imitate human speech so effectively, parents and teachers have used AI tools to help tutor kids, allowing it to explain concepts and ideas in new ways to help individual students understand better. Kids have used AI to help brainstorm ideas for science fair projects, proofread essays and even study for tests.

However, AI has also been abused. We’ve seen instances where AI was used not just to proofread writing assignments but to write them. Rather than practicing math problems at home, kids just let the AI provide the solutions. And sometimes, AI systems fail to provide factual information, leading to confusion and bewilderment.

Unfortunately, the government hasn’t helped schools find the right balance. At the federal level, there are no regulations in place. Most states are still debating what policies should be instituted. Which leaves individual school districts scrambling to lay down guidelines to protect both students and teachers.

The Teen-Proposed Solution

In July, 98 teens representing all 50 states met for a mock session of Congress. According to National Public Radio, the students, mostly high school seniors and juniors, “attempted what the real, adult Congress has largely failed to do: draft and pass ‘legislation’ to help the nation’s K-12 schools navigate the questions and chaos created by artificial intelligence.”

Over the course of a single weekend, these students discussed and debated the best ways to create AI literacy among schoolchildren, to ensure integrity in test-taking and to identify students who are using AI to cheat. They called it the “Safe Technology Use, Data Privacy, and Ethical Norms for Teaching—Fostering Integrity and Responsible Systems in Teaching (SUDENT FIRST) Act of 2026.” And AASA (the School Superintendents Association) plans to send the document to roughly 10,000 educators across the country to assist and inform them as they draft their own AI rules for schools.

The student congress stated that students should not be allowed to use AI for writing. Meanwhile, “editing, brainstorming and studying” with AI is fine—after eighth grade. However, students who are permitted to use AI tools also must cite how they used it, demonstrating their grasp of a subject through “discussions, handwritten tests or oral defenses.” The students also agreed that AI plagiarism checkers are unreliable. So anyone suspected of using AI inappropriately should also have their work reviewed by two human school officials.

However, one of the “most contentious” issues was figuring out when kids should first be exposed to AI in the classroom. Was elementary school too early? Was high school too late? “There’s nothing that says students need to be proficient before using it,” one student pointed out, which is part of the reason it’s being misused by so many students.

Essentially, the students realized that while some schools could dedicate resources to teaching AI literacy and proficiency, “underprivileged schools” would have a harder time teaching and regulating AI use. Additionally, they recognized that parents might restrict their child’s access to AI, which could put that kid at a disadvantage if his classmates can all use the tools freely.

What to Talk About With Your Students

The bill wasn’t perfect. But the student congress felt like it still conveyed a lot of important information to those who’d be reading it. It will get the conversation going and give a lot of school officials a jumping off point as they create their own AI rules. And it passed overwhelmingly, 82-16.

And that leads to the conversations you should be having with your own teen about AI and schoolwork. Here are some ideas for questions you can ask:

• What is your school’s AI policy? How does it vary from class to class, teacher to teacher?
• How have you already used AI in your schoolwork? How has it helped you? How has it hindered you?
• What are you doing to ensure that you still understand the subject matter even if you’re using AI to help you with assignments?
• What, if anything, is your school doing to ensure you and your classmates aren’t using AI to cheat?
• Have you ever used AI to cheat? Would you even consider it?
• Who would you talk to if you were accused of using AI to cheat? How can you protect yourself from false accusations?
• What are some ways you can use AI responsibly and fairly in your schoolwork?
• What, if any, requirements should be in place before students are allowed to use AI for schoolwork? What should the limitations be?
•  How do you feel about using AI in school? How do you plan to use it? How do your classmates plan to use it?

These questions should help you get a feel for what your kids already know about AI and how they’re using it. However, you may be surprised what sort of discussions it sparks. As mentioned, the student congress wound up talking about how some schools may not have the same resources to regulate AI as better-funded ones. But they also talked about how some students might go to AI for things that really should be directed toward a trusted adult, such as emotional support.

So ask your kids about AI. Let them tell you what they think about it and how they think it might help or hurt our world. Consider sharing their good ideas with their teachers and school administrators. And make sure that no matter what, your children knows that you’ll be there to support and assist them as artificial intelligence continues to embed itself into so many aspects of their young lives.