The Hampton Bays School District has put in place a new policy outlining the use of AI in school. As artificial intelligence gains popularity among students, Hampton Bays has joined school districts across the country that have adopted a policy to address the use of AI in classrooms.
This policy went into effect in late 2024 and specifies the boundaries put in place for students who choose to use AI. Administrators have acknowledged AI, and instead of completely shutting it down, they chose to incorporate it with helpful guidelines on how to make sure students are using this tool in a beneficial and ethical way. This policy shines a light on how AI is a tool that can help students if used correctly.
The district’s policy addresses a variety of topics that are necessary in order to allow the proper use of artificial intelligence among students. Students are only allowed to use AI with the approval of their teacher including responsible use and recognizing it as assistance not substitution. One key part of the policy states, “AI programs should complement learning, not replace it,” emphasizing the district’s thoughts on how AI shouldn’t be used for quick answers but to broaden each student’s sources of information. Along with this, the policy states that when students use AI the content should be properly attributed to avoid plagiarism.
Academic integrity is also key to following the guidelines of this policy, as the Hampton Bays UFSD Code of Conduct states that there will be consequences if fraud or plagiarism is detected. The code of conduct clearly states the district’s rules regarding plagiarism and how it will be handled if plagiarism is found. This policy encourages students to be honest about their work when using AI. A key part of this policy states that students who choose to use AI to complete their work must undergo a verbal review with their teacher in order to demonstrate that they can discuss the topic. This would show that the student actually understands the information and didn’t just copy and paste something that was generated by AI.
The AI Policy seems to be foreign to many students at Hampton Bays High School. When asking senior Veronica Marin how she feels about this policy, she expressed how she didn’t know about its existence and this was the first time she had heard about this policy. She further said, “Someone is going to find a way around it,” explaining how some students might find a loophole while using this policy.
On the other hand, when asking junior Andrew Japa he said, “I believe that this is good and we need it to keep students from using AI in the wrong manner.”
This new policy brings many opportunities for students to learn in a modernized way. Educators have to adapt to the advances that are part of everyday life and this new policy only goes to show how the educational experience is adapting to this new generation.
