Fredericksburg Parent

www.FredericksburgParent.NET 17 Neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath's The Digital Delusion links excessive classroom screen use to lower academic performance and weaker attention. Using international PISA data, he found stu- dents spending more than six hours daily on screens scored about two letter grades lower than peers who used none. Informed consent for learning This isn't about banning technology. It's about the reckless speed of implementation in children's lives without research, consent or guardrails. Children's brains differ from adults'. Giving AI to adults to stream- line work isn't the same as giving it to learners who still need rep- etition to build neural pathways. In medicine, informed consent is required for interventions. With AI in classrooms, there's no similar transparency or choice. Families aren't told what's unknown or offered optouts. Schools often debate health curricula or library books more vigor- ously than they question AI in classrooms. Parents, told that AI is key to future jobs, equate exposure with advantage. Missing from that conversation is proof that it strengthens learning rather than quietly replacing it. If we approached AI responsibly, we'd study it like any develop- mental intervention — comparing groups who use and who don't, tracking reading comprehension, writing fluency, attention and problemsolving. Instead, convenience and market momentum drive adoption. Don't blame the kids — or the parents One student I counseled admitted he used AI to get through high school and college assignments. It resolved his dread of the blank page, producing smooth, polished paragraphs. But later he dropped out of college with a panic disorder. When asked to defend his papers aloud, he froze and felt like "a 100 percent imposter." Questions parents should ask schools 1. When are students allowed to use AI, and when must they work independently? 2.  Which core skills must be practiced without AI — reading comprehension, writing drafts, math problemsolving, synthe- sizing ideas? 3. How does the school distinguish between AI supporting learning versus replacing it? 4. What research or evidence guides AI use across developmen- tal stages? 5. How are parents informed of new AI tools, and can families opt out? How to talk with your child about AI and schoolwork The goal isn't to scare kids but to keep learning central. • Lead with curiosity, not accusation. Ask: "How does AI fit into your schoolwork? When is it most helpful?" • Clarify the line between help and replacement. Emphasize that using AI after effort is different from using it instead of effort. • Focus on skill building, not cheating. Discuss which parts of homework are meant to strengthen the brain. • Be explicit about family expectations: "Do the first pass of think- ing and writing yourself." • Acknowledge the pressure teens feel. Empathy increases honesty. • Keep the conversation ongoing as tools evolve. Child-Friendly Jonathen Haidt and Catherine Price's new mid- dlegrade book, The Amazing Generation: Your Guide to Fun and Freedom in a ScreenFilled World blends graphicnovel storytelling with interactive challenges and clear explanations of the serious issues explored in Haidt's bestselling book for adults, The Anxious Generation. Haidt and Price want Generation Alpha — children born between 2013 and 2025 — to become "rebels" who battle "greedy tech wizards." These rebels follow two key principles: • Use technology as a tool; don't let technology use you. • Fill your life with real friendship, freedom and fun. Not a kid problem Haidt and Price don't shy away from assigning blame where it belongs — with tech companies that deliberately make their products addictive. They cast these developers as "greedy wiz- ards," and they're right. This is not a kid problem; it's an adult problem that profoundly affects children. What the book does well The Amazing Generation clearly names the harms of Big Tech and normalizes the fact that many children, even in middle school, do not have personal devices. The graphicnovel story- line illustrates common social situations that arise when kids have phones, such as the anxiety of being recorded or posted without consent. It's a useful counterpoint to the notion that kids without phones are the ones missing out. Haidt and Price explain how smartphones, social media and gaming apps manipulate users. They define terms such as algo- rithm and describe how these features exploit dopamine feed- back loops in young brains. Teens' takeaways Because the book targets tweens and teens, I asked my 14-year-old daughter and her friend to read it. Her friend said it made her feel more empowered to be off her phone. (My 14-year-old still uses a flip phone — a rare choice, but a successful one.) Both girls noted that, while they don't enjoy limits on screen use, they now better understand that parents who delay smartphones or set rules are protecting their longterm wellbeing. The Amazing Generation The Amazing Generation WRITTEN BY EMILY CHERKIN A Gen Alpha Guide to Big Tech, Screens and the Fight to Take Back Childhood Emily Cherkin's 14 year old daughter and a friend reading The Amazing Genera on.  Photo by Emily Cherkin.

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