photo by: Shelley Hanson

Carla Garrison, director of technology for Marshall County Schools, says parents should be monitoring how much time their children are spending on their electronic devices and talk to them about artificial intelligence.

Marshall County Schools’ technology director recently updated board of education members about upgrades across the school district — and also offered some advice for parents regarding artificial intelligence.

Following a recent board of education meeting, Carla Garrison, director of technology for Marshall County Schools, said parents should be monitoring how much time their children are spending on their electronic devices.

“I think it’s very important for parents to be aware of how much time their kids are spending on their devices because there are a lot of things that could not be great for them to spend time on,” she said.

“Everybody needs to be very careful with AI being so prevalent now. It’s very hard to know what’s real and what’s not. And I think kids really need some lessons in that because it’s hard enough for them and this is going to make it more difficult for them to realize what is real, what is not real. They need to have a good sense of being wary of just about everything, honestly.”

Garrison said some children are already familiar with and have used AI on their phones, computers and while using social media apps.

“They know what some of the capabilities are, but unfortunately, it can be fun to play with, but you have to remember that there are bad actors out there who also have these tools at their disposal now,” she added. “But, once again, I think limiting screen time would be helpful overall.”

Regarding technology in the district, Garrison said they have added additional protections to computers with personal information.

The district is also using Arctic Wolf to manage and detect potential virus problems. The district is also continuing to replace and/or upgrade computers with Windows 11 as Windows 10 no longer has support from Microsoft.

“We have purchased temporary licensing for computers allowing security upgrades for computers that we have not yet replaced,” she said.