Beyond “Lock It and Block It”: Why AI and Computer Science Education Can’t Wait Until College

I sometimes laugh when I think back to all the technology—and even curriculum—debates we’ve had in education.

Remember when computers sat in the back corner of the classroom and were reserved for students who finished their work early?

Remember when people questioned whether keyboarding was really a skill students needed to learn?

Then there was cursive writing.

For years, many schools moved away from teaching it because, let’s be honest, we all thought students would never really need it anymore. Everything was becoming digital, so why spend valuable instructional time on handwriting?

Fast forward a few years, and now we have young adults who struggle to read historical documents, decipher handwritten notes from family members, or even confidently sign their own name on important paperwork.

It’s a good reminder that predicting the future is harder than we think.

Then came Google.

“Don’t let them use it.”

“They need to learn how to use encyclopedias.”

Then came YouTube.

“Block it.”

“There’s nothing educational on there.”

Looking back, none of those conversations were really about computers, cursive, Google, or YouTube.

They were about change.

And here we are again.

This time, the conversation is about Artificial Intelligence.

Some schools have embraced it. Others have blocked it completely. Many are somewhere in the middle, unsure of what to do next.

Honestly, I understand why.

AI has evolved faster than almost any educational technology we’ve seen before. New tools seem to appear every week, and it can feel impossible to keep up.

But I think we’re asking the wrong question.

Instead of asking,

“Should students use AI?”

Maybe we should be asking,

“How do we prepare students for a world where AI is becoming part of everyday life?”

Because whether we like it or not, AI isn’t waiting for education to catch up.

AI Isn’t Replacing Learning… It’s Changing What Students Need to Learn

When ChatGPT first appeared, almost every conversation centered around cheating.

• Can students write essays with it?

• Can it solve math problems?

• How do we stop them?

Those were fair questions, and I had many of the same concerns.

But two years later, the conversation has changed.

Colleges across the country aren’t just teaching AI to computer science majors anymore. Future teachers, business majors, healthcare professionals, musicians, journalists, psychologists, marketers, and countless others are now being introduced to AI because employers increasingly expect graduates to understand how it fits into their profession.

Notice I didn’t say employers expect everyone to become AI experts.

They expect people to understand it.

To know when it’s helpful.

To recognize when it’s wrong.

To verify information.

To think critically about the answers it provides.

Those aren’t computer science skills anymore.

They’re life skills.

So…Does That Mean Every Student Needs to Learn Coding?

Whenever I speak with educators, someone eventually asks,

“If AI writes code now, why should students still learn coding?”

It’s a great question.

My answer is simple.

For the same reason we still teach math even though calculators exist.

For the same reason students still learn to write even though spellcheck catches their mistakes.

Learning has never been about producing an answer.

It’s about understanding the process.

During my years as a Digital Literacy teacher, I knew very few of my students would eventually become software developers.

That was never the goal.

My goal was to help students become confident problem-solvers who weren’t afraid of technology.

Coding taught them how to break large problems into smaller ones.

• How to think logically.

• How to recognize patterns.

• How to test ideas.

• How to debug when something didn’t work.

And maybe most importantly, how to keep trying until they figured it out.

Some of those students eventually pursued careers in technology.

Many didn’t.

But every single one of them benefited from learning how to think through a problem instead of giving up when the answer wasn’t immediately obvious.

Those lessons extend far beyond a computer screen.

AI Can Produce Answers. Students Still Need to Understand Them.

AI can write Python. It can build a website. It can summarize an article. It can explain a science concept.

Sometimes it does those things incredibly well. Sometimes it confidently gets them completely wrong.

That’s why understanding still matters.

Students need to recognize when AI has made a mistake.

They need to question its answers instead of assuming they’re correct.

They need to verify information.

They need to understand where AI gets its information, how data shapes its responses, and why bias can exist inside the systems they use every day.

That’s not just AI literacy.

That’s digital literacy.

And honestly…

It’s becoming basic literacy.

Start Earlier, Build Stronger

When people hear “AI education,” they often imagine high school students writing Python or building machine learning models.

Could they?

Absolutely.

But that’s not where AI education has to begin.

Elementary students can learn that computers recognize patterns instead of “thinking” like people.

Middle school students can explore how data teaches AI systems and why the quality of that data matters.

High school students can dive deeper into coding, cybersecurity, ethics, and creating projects that responsibly use AI.

Just like we don’t wait until high school to introduce reading comprehension, we shouldn’t wait until college to introduce AI literacy.

Students don’t need all the answers today.

They simply need a foundation they can continue building on.

We’ve Been Here Before

The more I think about it, the more AI reminds me of every major technology shift education has experienced over the past few decades.

Computers. Keyboarding. Google. YouTube. Cloud computing.

Even smartphones. Every one of them sparked concern.

Every one of them made us wonder if students really needed to learn something new.

And every one of them eventually became part of everyday life. AI feels different because it’s moving faster. But our responsibility as educators hasn’t changed.

Our job has never been to prepare students for the world we grew up in.

It’s to prepare them for the world they’re growing into.

That world will continue to change. The tools will continue to change.

Our mission won’t.

If we teach students to think critically, solve problems, ask thoughtful questions, understand technology, and use AI responsibly, they’ll be ready—not just for the next tool, but for the next twenty years of innovation.

Maybe the conversation shouldn’t be about whether AI belongs in schools anymore.

Maybe the better question is this:

If colleges are redesigning programs and employers increasingly expect graduates to understand AI, why would we wait until college to start building that foundation?

The good news is that teachers don’t have to become AI experts overnight.

We simply need to do what educators have always done. Learn alongside our students. Encourage curiosity. Ask great questions. And help students develop the confidence to navigate a world that none of us can completely predict.

Because if history has taught us anything, it’s this: The technology will keep changing.

Great teaching never does.

About the Author

Allison has over a decade of experience in education, spanning roles as a teaching assistant, AIS (Academic Intervention Services) math teacher, high school business teacher, and most recently, a digital literacy instructor. Her dedication earned her "Teacher of the Year" nominations in 2000 in Providence, Rhode Island, and in 2020 in Broadalbin, New York.