Nevaeh Henry is a current senior at Torrington High School. She is a member of TOP Club, which stands for Teen Outreach Program, and supports students in making and sustaining positive choices in their daily lives while engaging in their communities. In her free time, she loves either shopping with her friends or family or simply relaxing in bed all day. One of Nevaeh’s passions after high school is to work in the field of speech-language pathology to become a pediatric speech therapist. Nevaeh’s goal this year is to focus on her college career and on making it through senior year.
Recently, students at Torrington High School were cut off from ChatGPT, making schoolwork more frustrating for many students who used the tool to brainstorm ideas, organize their thoughts, come up with topics, or improve unclear sentences. While some people see ChatGPT as a shortcut, many students view it as a helpful starting point that makes it easier to begin assignments and develop their ideas.
One of the hardest parts of any assignment is figuring out how to start it, and that is where ChatGPT comes in, helping organize thoughts and brainstorming ideas. Not only that, but ChatGPT also explains ideas in simpler words, which helps students learn better who are struggling because sometimes teachers explain things in a way that not everyone can understand right away. ChatGPT is like a fast, on-the-go tutor, which is helpful for students who don’t have access to extra help outside of class.
Banning ChatGPT doesn’t solve the problem of cheating; it just pushes students to use it on their phones, which is an even bigger problem, causing them to be off task. Along with just having students access Chat on their phones at home. Not all students have electronic devices or access to technology outside of school, and blocking ChatGPT on school computers gives other people advantages who can still use it somewhere else, while restricting the other students who depend on school supplies.
Rather than banning ChatGPT, THS should allow students to be on it during appropriate timing along with setting clear rules, teaching students on how ChatGPT should be used, keeping the school’s learning tools. Banning ChatGPT may be a simple, fast solution, but it just ignores the bigger picture, if ChatGPT is used correctly, then it’s not a shortcut; it’s simply just a tool to help students think, learn, and grow.