It's Time to Show Up to Prepare and Protect Our Kids
Why parents need to step into the AI conversation now
In an age of digital interactions, showing up still matters.
This isn’t a polished Wake Up with Whit recording. It’s me, in front of my local school board, using two minutes to call for preparing and protecting our kids in the age of AI.
My Testimony to the Board (2 min)
Why Showing Up Matters
When you speak up in a school board room, it can feel early. Out of every ten people listening, maybe eight think you’re exaggerating the urgency. But one or two lean in with an “aha” moment and that’s how momentum builds. Slow, steady, consistent presence matters.
After my testimony, a board candidate came over to say he wanted to learn more. At the State Board of Education, a commissioner admitted she needed resources on AI. The state’s Chief Academic Officer told me she was aligned and wanted to exchange ideas. None of those conversations would have happened if I hadn’t been in the room.
The Urgency Is Real
Parents need to understand: the impacts of AI on kids aren’t years away. They’re happening right now. Consider these findings from a 2025 teen survey*:
72% of teens have tried AI companions, and over half use them regularly.
One-third (33%) have chosen to talk to an AI instead of a real person about something important or serious.
Nearly a third (31%) say AI conversations are as satisfying as those with their real-life friends.
These aren’t fringe cases. They point to a shift already underway in how kids are building relationships, seeking support, and forming habits.
*Note: the stats in my testimony are a bit different as they focus specifically on teen-AI companion social and relationship interactions, but they all tell the same story.
Prepare and Protect
That’s why I’ve been pressing both my district and the State Board for a two-layer approach:
Prepare students with cross-disciplinary AI competencies so every graduate knows how to use AI responsibly, critically evaluate both its value and limits, and disclose its role.
Protect developing minds by weaving AI into Social Emotional Learning (SEL), helping kids set boundaries, recognize simulated empathy, and choose human connection over AI companionship when it matters most.
The Time to Engage is Now
This is the gray space of AI. Not all-in, not all-out - not the world as we wish it would be, but the world as it is. It’s uncomfortable. Five years of research doesn’t exist, but we still have to act. We owe it to our kids to both prepare them and protect them.
Now is the moment for parents to show up.
At home, start asking your kids about how they use AI.
With other parents, share what you’re learning and ask what they know.
At schools, engage in the conversation with advisory committees and leaders.
It doesn’t take expertise. It takes presence, curiosity, and a willingness to be uncomfortable. When you show up, you may be early for most, but you’ll spark those one or two conversations that change the trajectory.
The window is open now. Let’s not wait until the patterns are entrenched.
