How Teens Use AI: Practical Findings for K–12 Educators

The useful part

They're using them as search engines, for schoolwork, for creating art, or for receiving advice and social support. Britebound (formerly American Student Assistance) is a nonprofit focused on preparing students for their postsecondary pathways. It fielded an online survey of 3,000 13- to 18-year-olds currently enrolled in secondary school in October and November of 2025.

How it works

• Common Sense Media is a nonprofit that researches and advocates healthy technology use among youth.
• Teens are using AI to seek direct answers to homework Most teens say they use AI for schoolwork.
• The most common ways students use AI is for seeking direct answers to homework problems.
• Britebound survey However, teens also use it for indirect answers and learning support.
• Teens say they use AI to brainstorm, check their own answers, create flashcards, or get feedback on work they have already written or solved.

What to take from it

When they get stuck on schoolwork, teens say they prefer to solve problems on their own or ask a teacher, parent, or friend for help before turning to AI. This is a problem students and staff face in schools across the country. In the Britebound survey, 44% said they use AI for school and personal uses and 23% said they use it for school only.

Example or evidence

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• Jason Henry/Bloomberg via Getty Images Artificial Intelligence Microsoft Commits to AI Guardrails for Schools.
• It found that teens in public schools whose parents don't hold a four-year college degree and those who are Black are more likely to report using AI for answer-seeking only, compared with their peers.

Details worth keeping

Many technologists say AI will reshape the future of all sectors of society, and today's students need to have AI literacy to prepare for a world in which the fast-evolving technology will be used regularly in careers and everyday life. Media survey found that 70% of students use AI for schoolwork. Meanwhile, the Common Sense Media survey found that teens with individualized education programs or Section 504 plans are more likely to customize AI tools for their learning needs compared with their peers without IEPs or 504 plans.

Related coverage

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• Techlearning: Students are already observing how AI is affecting their peers, their classrooms, and their own sense of what counts as authentic work.