Eisha Buch
Head of Teaching & Learning
Guidelines for navigating the impacts of AI.
School is where kids learn, belong, find trusted adults, and grow up together. AI is showing up in classrooms whether schools are ready or not. Getting this right means being deliberate about how—not letting it replace the parts of school that matter. These 10 rules are how we strike that balance.
- AI literacy is essential at every grade, regardless of the policy. Understanding how AI works and the risks and opportunities it holds should be treated as core curriculum. Begin in the younger grades—learning about AI doesn't require using it.
- No AI tool without vetting. Only approve tools that have been evaluated for safety, privacy, age-appropriateness, and real evidence of learning benefit. What's right for a 17-year-old isn't right for a 7-year-old.
- Be clear about when AI tools are allowed—and why. Tell students which kinds of AI use are OK on each assignment and which aren't—tied to the thinking it's meant to build, not just the final product.
- Protect the learning process. Design assignments so AI can't remove the thinking—the drafting, the revising, the disagreement—that is the point of the lesson.
- Don't let AI replace learning from people. "Personalized" should mean better-supported, not a kid alone with a screen instead of a teacher or classmates.
- Every consequential decision should be made by a human. Grades, discipline, and placement recommendations get human review before they're final. AI can inform, but never decide alone.
- Be transparent with families. Share which tools are in use and what data they collect before adoption, so families can make real choices.
- Build a no-punishment way to address problems. Students need to be able to report a disturbing or wrong AI response without fear of losing access or getting in trouble.
- Real distress goes to a real person. At any sign of crisis, involve a counselor or trusted adult—immediately, every time, no exceptions.
- Expect and plan for frequent change. Tools, guidance, and training need regular review. The technology and the research keep evolving.
Photo by Allison Sheeley for EDUimages – CC BY-NC 4.0
Eisha Buch is the Head of Teaching and Learning at Common Sense Media, where she leads the organization's K–12 Digital Literacy & Well-Being Curriculum, a free, comprehensive curriculum now reaching millions of students, educators, and families across more than 85,000 schools worldwide. A former New York City teacher with over 15 years in education, Buch has built a framework for helping young people stay fully human in a tech-saturated world: not by avoiding technology, but by thinking critically about its influence on their relationships, well-being, and sense of self. She is committed to making digital literacy as foundational as learning to read and write.
