By Lindsay Hay, Head of School at Paragon Prep
Ask a child a hard question today, and chances are an answer is only seconds away. Our devices can solve a math problem, summarize a book, write an essay, translate a language, or create an image. Artificial intelligence is already part of our children’s world.
As educators, our job isn’t to pretend that technology isn’t here. Our job is to make sure children can think beyond it; to become masters of technology rather than letting technology master them.
I recently traveled with students to Japan, where we found ourselves genuinely lost beneath Osaka in a maze of subway tunnels. Without reliable cell service, our technology wasn’t much help. Our students had to look around, remember where we’d been, talk to one another, ask questions, and be uncomfortable for a little while.
They had to figure it out.
It made me wonder: Are we giving children enough opportunities to not immediately know the answer?
At Paragon Prep, preparing students for an AI-driven future means developing the skills to decide when to use technology, how to question it, and when to trust their own thinking. Students need opportunities to wrestle with difficult problems, create from a blank page, defend an idea, collaborate, compete, take risks and occasionally fail.
Our motto, Work Hard, Play Hard, Be Kind, may be more relevant than ever. Perseverance, creativity, communication, resilience, empathy, and independence cannot be outsourced to technology.
Paragon Prep can give them the tools that won’t become obsolete: strong academic foundations, critical thinking, curiosity, communication, creativity, confidence, and character.
The goal of education isn’t simply to produce children who know the right answers. It’s to develop young people who know what to do when they don’t.
