If your child has a phone and any homework, they have probably typed at least one school question into an AI chatbot. This isn't a moral failing. It's gravity.
Here's what tends to work better than a confiscation: a clear, repeatable conversation. Not a one-off lecture.
Start with curiosity. 'Show me how you used it for this.' You'll learn more in two minutes than in two months of monitoring.
Then agree the line. Our family rule and one that maps neatly to most school policies is simple: AI for ideas and explanations, you for the answer. If a teacher couldn't tell which bits were yours, you've crossed it.
Finally, practise out loud. The single most useful skill we can teach is being able to explain, in your own words, the thing you just handed in. If you can't, you didn't really learn it — and any teacher will spot it within a question or two.
None of this requires you to understand the technology. It requires you to be the parent. Which, on balance, you already know how to be.
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