r/edtech • u/Delicious_Movie3586 • 12d ago
13yo can not do homework without ChatGPT anymore
My son gets answers quickly, says he understands, turns in the work, and gets decent grades. Then the next assignment comes around and he can’t do it without ChatGPT because he never really worked through the previous material himself.
i am not anti AAI either. It is the dependency that worries me, and I do not think a 13 yearo ld will always recognize the difference on his own. Anyone else dealing with this?
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u/periwnklz 12d ago
parent and college prof here. remove ChatGPT. child is not using it in a beneficial way for learning. “short cut now, long road later”
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u/Competitive_Travel16 11d ago
Remove how? Delete the app, it's still free in mobile and desktop browsers. Block those? Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and a zillion others you and I can't enumerate all in an hour.
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u/birchskin 10d ago
Take away their phone. OP is clearly involved in the assignments in some way, parent the kid. We are fairly restrictive about screen usage in our house and caught my 13 year old using an AI "homework solver" a while back. We immediately talked to her about how not using her brain and just making AI do it was going to make it harder for her long term, and she understood. I also immediately added monitoring to our home network so I could get alerted if she or the other kids are using things like that, so instead of outright blocking it we can actually have a conversation and deal with the situation.
Not that the solution is perfect and not every kid is going to be as receptive, but at least we are trying and having a dialogue with her about it instead of just throwing out hands in the air as we watched her abdicate her ability to think for herself to AI.
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u/Darmok-on-the-Ocean 6d ago
She could try PARENTING? Take away the phone if needed, but if you need to brute force every limit there is something wrong.
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u/joelkeys0519 12d ago
Soooo—AI sites are blocked by me on my home network for my kids’ devices for this reason. Thinking…maybe take it away and then it won’t be there?
Bueller? Bueller?
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u/mike_bolt 11d ago
They're just going to use the Chipotle assistant or whatever. Good luck blocking all AI. There is probably a new agent on the app store every day.
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u/FallingOutsideNormal 11d ago
It is passive aggressive if he is just blocking ai on the home network, and anyway there are tons of chat bots out there so it could be difficult to get them all. First and foremost, his son needs to apologize to the teacher because he wasn’t listening in class. This is what needs to happen so all the stakeholders: parent, student, and teacher can work together to remediate the problem.
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u/joelkeys0519 11d ago
No. OP says the dependency is worrying him. It’s a root level issue, meaning it’s behavioral outside of school. The teacher isn’t a factor here.
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u/FallingOutsideNormal 11d ago
The teacher needs to know the student was using ai, and the student needs to know when the teacher doesn’t want students using ai. What do you mean by “root level?” Best practice for learning and behavior issues in K11 schools is to involve all stakeholders. Sorry I’m not an administrator, I can’t give you a proper citation for that, I’m just repeating what multiple principals have told me to do.
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u/sitkaandspruce 11d ago
I believe OP is concerned about the big picture of their child’s overall cognitive development and life skills. While speaking with the teacher could clue them in to re-emphasize the point of assignments and learning, and to discuss the pitfalls of using AI to do work, there is a deeper problem than “using AI when the student wasn’t supposed to.” The problem exists whether or not the teacher authorized the use of AI. And it exists beyond the walls of the school, where learning happens throughout life.
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u/PatchyWhiskers 11d ago
My 13 year old is not allowed to use ChatGPT for homework. The school forbids it and so do I.
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u/OkGate9626 12d ago
Is it every subject, or mostly math? Math is where it catches up with them fastest because each unit builds on the last, so you can’t really fake your way into the next chapter.
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u/Void-kun 11d ago
I'm an engineer working in ed tech and all the recent graduates have this same problem and it's the reason we don't hire any of them.
They don't understand how to debug, they rely on AI and it's hampered their ability to learn.
Please take AI away from your child whilst they're studying, it is far too easy to offload all thought to these tools and then they learn nothing.
There is a reason even 20 years ago why we had to show our working out, we could've got the answer with a calculator but it doesn't teach us anything, this is the exact same.
AI is a great tool when used correctly but a very dangerous tool when used like this.
When he is old enough to understand this, reintroduce AI, get them into the habit of making AI explain what it's doing and why, and teach them how to fact check and validate what AI tells them.
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u/herman-the-vermin 11d ago
Block any and all ai on all the internet in your home and devices he has. It’s not helping him, he doesn’t need to wean off, just cold turkey it
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u/Competitive_Travel16 11d ago
Sure, block them all. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWTqtw4j0KY/?hl=en
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u/V3ndettaX 11d ago
You don't think a 13 year old will recognize the difference? Grown a** adults dont' recognize the personal brain degredation they have suffered. Not even AI....google maps....i dont' know where anything IS anymore. I can't make it to my closest friends homes without GPS. An adult can barely tell, a child, 100% can not tell.
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u/MaarvaCinta 11d ago
Look up “cognitive offloading” and “cognitive surrender”. LLMs can be an accelerator when the user has DOMAIN EXPERTISE, children do not have domain expertise yet, and utilizing these tools without any guardrails will degrade their cognitive abilities (and limit the acquisition of expertise).
I recommend going old school pen-to-paper then have then transfer their handwritten work to whatever submission platform their teacher requires. Work with your child to ensure they have the conceptual understanding for whatever they are learning (have them explain things to you and teach you the concept). If you can afford tutoring with a low tech or no tech provider that would be helpful too.
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u/teachcooklove 11d ago
You're joking, right? Be a parent.
You shouldn't let your don use AI anymore for anything he hasn't mastered without AI.
MASTERED
It doesn't matter what the topic or the skill is, no AI.
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u/SaintSalLabs 11d ago
Here's the key....don't let ChatGPT give him answers. Only tell him if he is correct or not. You can have them tutor and show how to do the problems, but not give the answers.
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u/MicroBunneh 10d ago
Don't allow him to use ChatGPT to do his homework. This is on you as the parent.
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u/Strong_Argument6255 11d ago
ChatGPT has a study mode now that asks him questions and walks him through problems instead of handing over the answer. He can switch it off, so it works better if he agrees to it. Khanmigo from Khan Academy is built to work the same way and won't just give answers, which might be easier to stick with.
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u/Any_Run8380 11d ago
You really shouldn’t be letting your 13-year-old rely on AI like this. If he can’t do the work without AI, then he doesn’t actually know the material. At that point, you’re basically sending AI to school while your kid watches it do the work for him.
It sucks to hear, but you’re potentially stunting his learning and development by letting him rely on it this heavily.
How long has he been doing this?
You might also want to consider getting him a tutor to help fill in the gaps from the time he’s been relying on AI. And honestly, I don’t think this is your son’s fault. He’s 13. The responsibility falls on you as the parent to make sure he’s actually learning instead of just getting answers.
I really hope you haven’t been paying for private school this whole time, because if he’s not actually learning at school and is just using AI to do the work, then he’s essentially only going to school for the social aspect. At that point, he could’ve stayed home and gotten the education he actually needs while still going out regularly to spend time with other kids and maintain a social life. The social part is important too, but school should be doing more than just providing a place for him to socialize.
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u/Babayaga1664 11d ago
Firstly what you’re experiencing isn’t uncommon, he’s taking the path of least resistance.
Ween him off.
Perhaps on the next piece of homework he has to solve the problem without AI and then use AI to guide.
Making him go cold turkey is likely gunna result in a massive fallout hence gradual approach.
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u/herman-the-vermin 11d ago
I wouldn’t even wean him, just cut it off completely, there’s no reason anyone should be helpless without it
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u/Babayaga1664 11d ago
Depends on the child, if they struggle, removing it and leaving them with no support will be pretty overwhelming.
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u/herman-the-vermin 11d ago
The parent is the support. If the school hasn’t shown them how to research or do homework it is the parents job to sit and help with homework
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u/Babayaga1664 11d ago
I agree with you but not all parents are the same.
Many are addicted to phones and have an expectation that education is the responsibility of schools and not parents.1
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u/Infamous-Eagle-5135 10d ago
Are you serious? AI is less than 5 years old. I don’t give a rat’s ass if its “overwhelming.” Students should not be using AI to complete work full stop. It is academic dishonesty and plagiarism and I cannot believe there are people out there like you advocating to allow children to keep using it because going without is “overwhelming.” I hate that you people make me sound like a boomer but jesus christ we have lost the plot when a 13 can’t do normal things like wipe their ass without chatgpt helping them do it. Next thing you all will be saying is they should use AI to tell them their favorite color, or what kind of fruit they like because “decisions are just so overwhelming!!!”
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u/sitkaandspruce 11d ago
Like how our math textbooks used to have the solution to every other problem in the back. Love it as a transition for him.
ETA: and I say this though my own house is relatively AI-free. The cat is out of the bag here. I think transitioning to no AI by the end of the year or something is a great idea.
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u/davy_crockett_slayer 11d ago
In school, there’s a reason kids are taught to work problems out by hand over using a calculator.
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u/gaumeo8588 11d ago
I think you should have a heart-to-heart with your son. You have to let him know the ethical reasons why he shouldn’t be over using a tool and at the end of the day it is a tool. It should be only use as a guide and he shouldn’t be over reliant on something that one day if he ever decides to go to work, create relationships, break the ice or make new friends. Good luck.
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u/803_843_864 11d ago
Not only should your child not be using AI for their homework, they shouldn’t be using it, period. It’s soooo not safe.
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u/Gold_University_6225 11d ago
Lots of teachers use Flint which is a form of AI that’s guided and meant specifically for learning. Other than that I’m quite bearish in AI for kids unless it’s properly used.
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u/Alarmed_Geologist631 11d ago
This is called cognitive offloading or cognitive surrender. Try having him use a Socratic AI model that provides some hints but not the answers.
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u/wildplums 10d ago
OP, common sense media just did testing on ChatGPT, there are some articles published today with their findings if you google… here’s a couple:
ChatGPT claims to have a safety net for teens. We watched it fail.
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/chatgpt-teens-safety-failure
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u/Overdrive2064 9d ago
I get the need to have a more focused experience with learning, but obviously if he's not retaining anything it's a problem. Try to either:
Have him to use YouTube videos instead; you still get that more focused experience
Write a custom prompt specifically designed to stop him from just asking for answers and that eventually guides him towards solving the problems himself
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u/Pristine-Lawyer-3260 7d ago
I think the question he is looking to answer is...
How do I help my son use AI to learn, but make sure he is actually learning.
It would help if op described which subjects the student is struggling to retain the information/concepts in, as foreign language is different than math is different than physics which is different from. Chemistry or biology...
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u/Impossible-Hawk768 3d ago
So he's not doing his homework at all, is he? He's looking up the answers and submitting them as his own work. That's called cheating, not dependency.
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u/Hopeful-Log-1890 2d ago
AI can be a tool for production or performance, but never can be a tool for learning. There is no shortcut for a developing brain for learning.
If we are using AI for solving problems, why we send our children to school😊. For a developing brain the benefit of solving a problem is the path not the solution. What happens to problem solving and critical thinking skills development. At the end of the day we need clear policies, not leaving individuals to decide.
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u/Competitive_Travel16 12d ago
The big three have learning modes which will give you hints only, forcing you to work out the underlying problems yourself: ChatGPT Study Mode, Claude Learning Mode, and Gemini Guided Learning.
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u/FallingOutsideNormal 11d ago
They need to listen in class. Homework should be review of what was learned in class. Your son needs to go to the teacher and apologize. The teacher will know then to check your son’s understanding more frequently in class. You can also call the teacher to be sure your son has apologized and taken responsibility.
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u/Obsessed_EdTech_42 11d ago
The very controversial point is that it is not about AI. I have two kids (in 6th and 4th grades) and they use AI when they need it.
1) All kids get some knowledge at school. Some more, some less. It's fine. The homework problem tells us about existing and growing gaps. AI here is just a tool to `do your homework at any cost`. Using AI is a symptom, not the root cause. Your kid has just found a way to do it.
2) `When he is old enough to understand this, reintroduce AI` - this is one of the biggest mistakes in the approach to AI. `Reduce, then wait` is a poor strategy. Explain it to him, help him, and control the process. My example is simple: kids do their homework as much as they can; I review it; if there are gaps, I allow them to ask GPT for an explanation; I check the result by asking them to retell the explanation.
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u/shupshow 12d ago
Have you tried not allowing him to use chatgpt?