Why I Let My Students Use AI

Read the original at The Free Press ↗
Cite

Naquin, R. (2026, September 3). Why I Let My Students Use AI. The Free Press. https://www.thefp.com/p/why-i-let-my-students-use-ai

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Free Press · collected 2026-09-03 · by Rod Naquin

Quick Summary

A high school English teacher from Louisiana, Rod Naquin, believes teachers who refuse to integrate artificial intelligence into their classrooms are missing an opportunity to transform education. Naquin argues that the concerns about AI's effects on students' learning are "dramatically overstated." He makes no specific claim about the percentage of teachers who resist using AI or the number of schools that have implemented its use, but suggests that it is a valuable tool for educators. In this first-person account, Naquin presents his perspective as a proponent of incorporating AI into education.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-05, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Here is a summary of the news story:

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a one-year moratorium on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in public school classrooms for elementary and middle school students, affecting approximately 600,000 students. The ban applies to student-facing generative AI software and companion chatbots, which will be prohibited across all grade levels. However, high schoolers will still be able to use some AI tools under teacher supervision.

The decision is part of a sweeping new policy aimed at limiting digital devices and AI tools in the city's school system. The moratorium will allow officials to study the impact of AI on students and teachers, while also introducing biannual AI critical thinking training for high schoolers.

Mayor Mamdani framed the decision as a way to prioritize human connection and relationships in education, stating that children need "their teachers and human connection in order to learn and grow."

Written for “NYC Bans AI in Schools” on 2026-10-20, grounded in this article and the 7 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 NYC Bans AI in Schools
Education · 8 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans strongly right and hedges 13% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Should Kids Use AI? A Debate. Plus. . . same event · 100%
The Free Press
⚖️ Centre further left than this 🔴 8% hedged 3 of 36 📰 publisher trust 96
“Both articles mention a debate about AI in the classroom, and both are dated September 3, 2026”
NYC temporarily bans AI in most public school classrooms different event · 90%
CBS News
⚖️ Centre further left than this 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 2 📰 publisher trust 66
“Article A reports on a specific ban in NYC public schools, while Article B discusses AI use in general and quotes a teacher from Louisiana”
US: New York City Mayor Mamdani announces ban on AI for younger students different event · 90%
Deutsche Welle
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 4% hedged 1 of 26 📰 publisher trust 95
“Article A discusses a general debate around AI in education, while Article B reports on a specific announcement by New York City Mayor Mamdani banning AI for younger students”
AI largely to be banned in NYC elementary and middle schools different event · 90%
The Straits Times
⚖️ Centre further left than this 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 5 📰 publisher trust 60
“Article A discusses a general debate about AI in education, while Article B reports on a specific policy announcement by NYC's Department of Education banning AI use in certain schools”
We worry social media is unsafe for children, yet we put AI chatbots in their classrooms different event · 80%
Toronto Star
⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 24 📰 publisher trust 63
“Although both articles discuss artificial intelligence in education, they appear to be discussing different aspects of the issue and do not describe a single specific event or occurrence”
Why is New York City pausing some AI tools in schools? | Explained different event · 80%
The Hindu
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 2% hedged 1 of 51 📰 publisher trust 60
“Article A discusses a general debate about AI in education, while Article B reports on a specific policy announcement by New York City's Mayor and Schools Chancellor to pause AI tools in schools”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
15
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
13%
2 of 15 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans strongly right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
96/100
The Free Press's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
8
Education
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-05 · source text last changed 2026-09-05 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Free Press · 327 article(s) · 0 correction(s) detected
No corrections detected for this publisher. That may mean careful reporting, or simply that nothing has been checked.

Who wrote this

Rod Naquin
1 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 If I were living under that rock, and I peered out at this discourse, I might just climb back down and take my chances with the grubs.
2026-09-03 · assertive framing · Why I Let My Students Use AI
The only article under this byline in the corpus.

Topics

Illinois Louisiana SparkNotes

Subjects

Louisiana GPE · 2× Deb Eaton PERSON · 1× Illinois GPE · 1× Rod Naquin PERSON · 1× —The Editors PERSON · 1×

Narrative

Read on to hear from Rod Naquin, a high-school English teacher from Louisiana, who believes teachers who refuse to integrate AI productively into their classrooms are missing a massive opportunity to change the educational landscape for the better.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-03
🔮 If I were living under that rock, and I peered out at this discourse, I might just climb back down and take my chances with the grubs.
2026-09-05 · The Free Press
Why I Let My Students Use AI · assertive framing

Claims (15 extracted, 2 hedged)

It’s back-to-school season, and one subject is top of mind: artificial intelligence. asserted
subject → ’ → mind
AI’s capabilities are expanding daily, transforming education and raising profound questions: Does it help or hurt students? What about teachers? asserted
it → expand → teachers
And how can we use the technology productively—if that’s even possible? asserted
that → use → technology
Few people have a better vantage point on this debate than teachers. asserted
people → have → teachers
So we reached out to two of them to explore it from both sides: the case to ban AI in the classroom, and the case to embrace it. asserted
we → reach → it
Read on to hear from Rod Naquin, a high-school English teacher from Louisiana, who believes teachers who refuse to integrate AI productively into their classrooms are missing a massive opportunity to change the educational landscape for the better. asserted
who → read → better
And click here for the opposing perspective from Deb Eaton, a high school English teacher from Illinois, who prohibits AI in all her classes—and believes other teachers should too. asserted
teachers → click → classes
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last four years, you’ve encountered the debate about AI in education. asserted
you → live → education
You’ve seen headlines from researchers who claim that using a chatbot is akin to outsourcing your mind to a machine. uncertain
using → see → machine
You’ve heard warnings about cognitive off-loading, cognitive debt, cognitive decline. asserted
You → hear → loading
A few weeks back, I read a commentator describe AI use as “cognitive cancer.” asserted
commentator → read → cancer
You’ve heard the hand-wringing about how students no longer do their homework (they used to?), no longer write their own essays (they were good at this?), and no longer read their assigned texts (haven’t they been using SparkNotes for years?). asserted
they → hear → years
If I were living under that rock, and I peered out at this discourse, I might just climb back down and take my chances with the grubs. uncertain
I → live → grubs
The problem is, the naysayers have it all wrong. asserted
it → have → ?
I am a high school English teacher in Louisiana, and I’m here to tell you that while the concerns about the effects of AI on students’ learning are real, to a point, they are also dramatically overstated. asserted
they → ’m → point
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