Rebecca Winthrop

muscle of doing hard things, because I worry greatly that AI will basically make a frictionless world for young people. It's great for me. I'm loving generative AI, but I have said several decades of brain development where I know how to do hard things. But kids are developing their brains. They're literally being neurobiologically wired to

for how to attend, how to focus, how to try, how to connect ideas, how to relate to other people. And all of those are not easy things.

for how to attend, how to focus, how to try, how to connect ideas, how to relate to other people. And all of those are not easy things.

Absolutely. So we found after three years of research that kids engage in four different ways. They're passenger mode, kids are coasting, achiever mode, they're trying to get perfect outcomes, resistor mode, they're avoiding and disrupting, and explorer mode is when they really love what they're learning and they dig in and they're super proactive. So that's the high level framework.

Absolutely. So we found after three years of research that kids engage in four different ways. They're passenger mode, kids are coasting, achiever mode, they're trying to get perfect outcomes, resistor mode, they're avoiding and disrupting, and explorer mode is when they really love what they're learning and they dig in and they're super proactive. So that's the high level framework.

What part do you want to dig in on?

What part do you want to dig in on?

So passenger mode is difficult to spot often. for parents and sometimes teachers, because many kids in passenger mode get really good grades, but are just bored to tears. They show up to school, they do the homework, they have dropped out of learning. So passenger mode is when kids are really coasting, doing the bare minimum.

So passenger mode is difficult to spot often. for parents and sometimes teachers, because many kids in passenger mode get really good grades, but are just bored to tears. They show up to school, they do the homework, they have dropped out of learning. So passenger mode is when kids are really coasting, doing the bare minimum.

Some signs of this are your kid comes home and they do their homework as fast as possible. Another sign is that they say, oh, school's boring. It's just boring. I learn nothing. Kids are in passenger mode because school is actually too easy for them.

Some signs of this are your kid comes home and they do their homework as fast as possible. Another sign is that they say, oh, school's boring. It's just boring. I learn nothing. Kids are in passenger mode because school is actually too easy for them.

We talked to so many kids who said, look, I'm in class, and the teacher is going over the math homework from yesterday, and I got everyone right, and I know the answers, and it's 45 minutes of that. And I understand the kids who don't get it. They need the help. but I'm gonna shop online.

We talked to so many kids who said, look, I'm in class, and the teacher is going over the math homework from yesterday, and I got everyone right, and I know the answers, and it's 45 minutes of that. And I understand the kids who don't get it. They need the help. but I'm gonna shop online.

Or I have kids who say, well, I got the homework home and I know how to do this stuff, so I just put in chat GPT and it did my problem set for me and then I turn it in. So that's when it's too easy. Another version of why kids get into passenger mode is when it's too hard. School's too hard. You could have a neurodivergent kid. Kids don't feel they belong, and so they're not tuning in.

Or I have kids who say, well, I got the homework home and I know how to do this stuff, so I just put in chat GPT and it did my problem set for me and then I turn it in. So that's when it's too easy. Another version of why kids get into passenger mode is when it's too hard. School's too hard. You could have a neurodivergent kid. Kids don't feel they belong, and so they're not tuning in.

They've missed certain pieces of skill sets that they really need. Knowledge and education is cumulative in many ways, and they get kind of overwhelmed, and they need particular special attention. So that's kind of what's going on in passenger mode.

They've missed certain pieces of skill sets that they really need. Knowledge and education is cumulative in many ways, and they get kind of overwhelmed, and they need particular special attention. So that's kind of what's going on in passenger mode.

I think you're 100% right. I've talked to kids all over the country, and I've seen lots of incidents or cases of highly motivated, highly engaged kids who are using AI really well. They'll write the paper themselves. They'll go in and use AI for research and help them copy edit. They're doing the thinking.

I think you're 100% right. I've talked to kids all over the country, and I've seen lots of incidents or cases of highly motivated, highly engaged kids who are using AI really well. They'll write the paper themselves. They'll go in and use AI for research and help them copy edit. They're doing the thinking.

They've lined up the evidence to create a thesis, and they've presented it in logical order on their own. And that is the art of thinking. And that's why we assign seventh graders to write essays or 10th graders to write essays. It's not that they're going to create incredible works of art. It's to train them how to think logically and how to think in steps.