My 15-year-old does all their homework with AI
Do not ban it tonight. Agree one rule in a calm moment: AI is allowed for homework after you have tried, and you can show me your attempt. Then sit down together once and set the AI up to coach on that attempt. You check attempts, not chats.
What is going on
Your teenager is not lazy and not unusual. In a Pew Research Center survey of 1,458 US teens (published February 2026), 54% had used chatbots for schoolwork help and 10% said they do all or most of their schoolwork that way. The homework still gets handed in, often with good marks, which is why it is easy to miss.
The worry is fair: exams happen without the AI. The useful question at home is not "did you use AI?" It is "what did you try first?"
What to do this week
Pick a calm time and ask, do not accuse
"Show me how you use it for homework." Listen first. Many teenagers are relieved to be asked.
Agree the one rule
Try first, for five minutes, in writing. Then AI is fine. If you ask, they show you the attempt. Put it on paper and both sign it.
Set the AI up together
With your teenager next to you, save an instruction in ChatGPT or Gemini that makes it ask for an attempt before it answers. The coach setup writes the instruction and shows where it goes.
Check in once, on a set day
Sunday evening: "Show me two attempts from this week." Real attempts have wrong turns. You are looking for effort, not right answers.
What not to do
- Do not install anything in secret or read their chats. It costs you their trust, and the rule depends on trust.
- Do not block one AI and call it done. There is another one a tab away, and AI is now inside search and messaging apps.
- Do not make it about cheating. Make it about June, when they sit the exam alone.
The honest limit
A 15-year-old who wants to get round a rule will. A saved instruction can be removed, and so can a browser extension. The paid Family plan of our extension adds a parent PIN so the rules stay as set, homework hours on every AI site and a week view your child can also see, and it works beside an agreed rule, not instead of one. The rule and the agreement are free, and they are the part that matters most.
Ages: ChatGPT is for 13 and up, with a parent's permission under 18. Claude's terms require users to be 18 or older, so it is not for teenagers.
Questions
Should I tell the school?
Ask the school what its AI rules are before anything else. Some classes allow AI for feedback. Knowing the rules lets you set a home rule that matches them.
What if they say everyone does it?
They are partly right, and you can say so. The rule is not "no AI". It is "your attempt first", which they can keep without falling behind their friends.
How do I know the attempt was real?
You cannot be certain, and you do not need to be. An attempt with crossings out and a wrong first idea is hard to fake every night. Trust plus one weekly look is enough for most families.