As artificial intelligence (AI) and other technology begin to take over classrooms across the nation, a parental rights group is releasing model policies for states and school boards to ensure children’s privacy and education are being protected.
The policies created by Moms for Liberty (M4L) suggest states adopt legislation to protect parental rights and set clear limitations on the technology, and encourage parents to take the issue up with school boards. The goal, M4L CEO and co-founder Tina Descovich told the Daily Caller News Foundation, is “to make sure parents are holding all the keys to the toolbox for AI education.”
“We are here to send up the warning siren and the flags,” Descovich proclaimed. “There are parents already starting to come to us with children as young as 10 and 11 that are being exposed to AI companions on their school laptops during school hours that are sexualizing them, that are building emotional and sexual relationships with them. And over the next year or two, I think we’re going to be hearing a lot of stories about that hitting the news wave.”
“So as parents, we have to get educated. We don’t have to be afraid of AI. We can engage it as we are moving forward as a nation and embracing it and using it as a tool, but it has to be harnessed when it comes to our children.”
The suggested state policies would require schools to obtain written permission from parents to opt in to the use of AI in the classroom and reserve them the right to withdraw their consent at any time, without penalty to the student. States must also not let AI replace a teacher’s core role in instructing students and grading final assignments.
Another concern the state policy seeks to address is preventing the implementation of any intelligence system that can profile students based on political, religious, or personal values.
“This initiative is a unifying issue. All parents, all school board members, anybody that cares about the well-being of children should support everything in this toolkit,” Descovich stated. “This should not be a partisan issue.”
The suggested penalty for noncompliance with state policy is revocation of funding and opening up educational institutions to legal action.
School boards are asked to institute similar safeguards in order “to prevent misuse, bias, manipulation, or harm to students.” M4L included a suggested pledge for boards “to defend and uphold the fundamental right of parents to direct their children’s education and upbringing” and affirm “that any Artificial Intelligence policy or practice within the district shall serve families, protect students, and respect parental authority.”
“A proclamation isn’t binding, but good grief, it’s representing teachers. Saying we don’t want teachers to lose their jobs. We want teachers to use it as a tool, but not replace the work that they’re doing,” Descovich said. “I don’t know anyone that would disagree with that, and all school board members should agree with that.”
All of the model policies emphasize the importance of human oversight and explicit parental consent, along with protection of the private data for all students. They would also ensure that AI does not and must not replace meaningful work from students.
Parents are even provided a sample speech to prompt their local school boards to take action.
“Artificial Intelligence is no longer a future concept; it is here in our classrooms. It has extraordinary potential to enhance learning, improve efficiency, and expand access to information in ways we could not have imagined even a few years ago,” parents should say, according to M4L. “But with that opportunity comes serious responsibility.”
“No algorithm should replace a teacher’s judgment. No platform should shape a child’s worldview. No AI system should conduct or monitor social-emotional learning or provide mental health services to students,” the speech continues. “And no AI tool should operate without clear safeguards and accountability. This is about the balance of innovation with responsibility. Progress with protection.”
“One thing we’ve learned at Moms for Liberty is that when you empower parents, they can have the greatest impact on what’s happening in their school district,” Descovich told the DCNF. “And so we’ve made it very simple.”
Parents who spoke to the DCNF in November voiced concerns that an increase in technology in the classroom has made their kids angrier, less intelligent and less social. However, Moms for Liberty believes the battle is no longer about whether or not to integrate AI into schools, but how to reign it in now that it’s already here.
“I would be shocked to learn of any teacher or school that is not already using AI in some capacity,” Descovich warned. “So it’s so important that we get these guardrails put in place for teachers and for students, and so that parents are holding the keys to the toolbox, because it’s very quickly going to get out of control.”
In some instances, parents insisted that all of their children’s work has been moved to computers and tablets, with little to no human instruction. Calls for additional support for their kids were met with suggestions to use AI learning tools, not human tutors.
In other cases, however, AI has proven a valuable tool to aid real instruction, not replace it.
In New York City, school superintendents insist AI is helping to improve student learning. The tool works to spit out instant feedback to students, synthesize responses back to teachers, and suggest discussion questions to clarify misconceptions. State test scores from schools using the model have increased faster than those at other schools in the respective districts.
Moms for Liberty has joined a White House pledge to invest in AI education and has spoken to the federal AI task force about the importance of advancing AI while protecting children and parental rights.
“Our children will not be digital zombies,” Descovich said in December. “They will be raised by their parents, not by algorithms.”
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