writing

What Happens When AI Does the Writing?

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Recently, The Journal of the American Medical Association, one of the most prestigious journals in medicine, published an opinion piece on the use of AI in scientific writing. The author, John Steiner, discussed the perils involved. 

He talks about how tempting it is for scientists to use AI when they write, given that many of them do not enjoy or feel competent at writing. He mentions that they have been trained in science, not in the humanities, and many have received no formal training in writing….since high school.

The problem is that scientists become successful partially by virtue of the number of papers they get published. Overwhelmed as they are by their other responsibilities – teaching, research, grant writing, etc. – AI becomes particularly attractive as a way to shortcut the writing process. 

But, Steiner says, it is amid these pressures that an important matter is forgotten: scientific writing is a creative act.

And here is where we get to my point in writing this post: this is not the case only with scientific writing. Just about any kind of writing is a creative act – and this is as true in fifth grade or seventh grade as it is at the postgraduate level. If children and teens farm out their writing to AI, they too miss out on the creative act of writing. They miss the opportunity to choose words and, indeed, ideas, carefully and consciously. They miss out on the chance to figure out how to best express their own thoughts.

Steiner quotes the writer, Ted Chang, who pithily said,  “The task that generative AI has been most successful at is lowering our expectations, both of the things we read and
of ourselves when we write anything for others to read. It is a fundamentally dehumanizing technology because it treats us as less than what we are: creators and apprehenders of meaning.”

The creative act of writing involves struggle. It isn’t easy to express ones ideas clearly, to choose the words that convey our ideas best and that sound the most pleasing. But the question is, what happens to people – scientists, or kids – if they do not engage in this sort of mental exercise? What happens to their creativity? And what happens to their feeings about themselves when they submit an article or hand in homework on which they didn’t really work very hard because they used AI to do their writing? What happens to the development of their ability to withstand the frustration inherent in doing intellectual work?

In the end, Steiner comes to this conclusion: “We should not protect young researchers from that struggle, and they should not protect themselves by relying too heavily on AI tools.” And I would say the same of kids. Let’s do all we can to discourage AI use in writing – at home and at school. Yes, AI is good for correcting grammar and spelling mistakes, for finding citations, and even for summarizing the content of articles. But beyond that? Let’s try to help kids (and scientists) to do the writing on their own.

References

Steiner, John F., JAMA. Scientific Writing in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, November 17, 2025.
doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2025.6078

Chiang T. Why AI isn’t going to make art. New
Yorker. Published on August 31, 2024. Accessed
May 19, 2025. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/
the-weekend-essay/why-ai-isnt-going-to-make-art

Talking to Your Kids About Porn

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Dr. Corinne Masur

It’s time to recycle and update this post from 2018.

But – you aren’t going to want to read this, even though you need to.

Kids and porn – it’s a difficult subject.

Parents don’t want to believe that their kids are watching porn. 

But…your kids are probably watching porn.

Common Sense Media reports that by 13 – 17, a majority of kids have watched porn.

And I’ve had patients as young as seven who admitted that they had gone to a porn site and watched “sex.”  This was accompanied by giggling and embarrassment.  But behind the giggling was confusion over what sex is and why people are all watching this stuff.

Older kids, from ages 10 through adolescence, may understand more about the meaning of the word sex and why people watch porn – but don’t assume that they have accurate ideas about either.

A teacher at Philadelphia’s Friends Central School, Al Vernaccio, teaches sexual literacy starting in elementary school.  He begins by talking about puberty to the 4th and 5th graders, continues with discussions about romantic crushes with the middle school kids, and in high school, he talks about the question: what is sex? 

Surprisingly, he finds, there is confusion over the answer.  He allows his students to ask questions anonymously at the beginning of every class by submitting written messages to him. He answers these questions and then continues his classes by talking about a range of issues: the meaning of sex, the meaning of consent, the misinformation gained from watching pornography, etc.

Is this novel? Does this happen at your child’s school? Would you want it to?

Surprisingly, says Vernaccio, parents of his students are asking kids if they can read what he assigns for homework.  The parents are hungry for information about how to talk to their children, as well as how to have relevant conversations about an online world in which everything is accessible.

Vernaccio was raised Roman Catholic, attended parochial school and St. Joseph’s University, and obtained a degree in theology. Strange that he would have a career in teaching that involves teaching sexual literacy? Not so much.  When Vernaccio was 19 he told his parents that he was gay and, unable to talk about it themselves, they told him to talk to their priest. He’s quoted in Philadelphia Magazine as saying that his parents missed out on a huge portion of his life because they didn’t know how to talk with him about his sexual identity. This is one reason that Al Vernaccio teaches sex education today; he wants to help other kids and parents to be able to talk together about what he and his parents were unable to talk about.

This man is on a mission to help kids to learn about the multiple meanings of the word “sex,” to learn about the use and misuse of power in sexual relationships, and to understand some very basic things about themselves as sexual beings. When defining the word “sex,” he uses the analogy of pizza (and his classroom is filled with pizza posters, bumper stickers about pizza, etc). He says that sex is more than one act; instead, it’s like choosing toppings for your pizza. There are lots of options and each person participating should have a say in which options are chosen.

Ultimately, Vernacchio’s approach to sex education is simple: If we can talk about sex, we can make smart choices about sex. Yet it feels revolutionary in a society that has largely failed to initiate the conversation.

So if you think your child may have watched pornography online, or if you think they might, or even if you’re still convinced they haven’t – it’s time to start the conversation with your child or teen. And before you do, it’s important to know that many kids and teens feel guilty and ashamed about watching porn. So when you bring it up, do two things: normalize watching porn and generalize about watching porn. And what I mean by this is that you can say, “A lot of kids your age have watched porn. And most kids your age are curious about bodies and sex and they think porn is a good way to find out about this stuff.” But then you can go on to tell them that what’s available online can be confusing and that what they see when they watch porn is not like real life. The bodies shown in porn are not like average, everyday bodies and some of the things done in porn videos are not the things regular people expect to do. Discuss how movie or porn sex can be very different from “real-life sex”. Tell them that porn sets up unrealistic expectations for what sex is really like.

Encourage your kids to ask you questions about sex and identify trusted online sources of information for them. And talk about how to think critically about pornography, whether it is realistic or not, whether it is really helpful or not and whether it represents what people really want when they share intimacy together.

According to Common Sense Media, while less than half (43%) of the teens in their research reported that they had conversations about pornography with a trusted adult, most who did have these conversations said it encouraged them to find other ways to explore their sexuality besides pornography.

And the Common Sense Media report concludes by saying, “Educating kids and teens to be discerning about all content they see online is an important aspect of digital literacy, and that’s certainly true with pornography. When it comes to learning about sexuality, kids and teens need to see healthy, realistic, and age-appropriate storylines about relationships, attraction, and sex. Parents, educators, and industry leaders can help guide kids to higher-quality content and put the right protections in place to allow kids to explore the digital world safely.”

For additional information:

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/kids-action/articles/teens-are-watching-pornography-and-its-time-to-talk-about-it

https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/blog/growing-up-with-pornography-advice-for-parents-and-schools/#:~:text=By%20age%20nine%2C%2010%25%20had,self%2Desteem%20as%20young%20adults.

https://www.phillymag.com/news/2018/06/01/al-vernacchio-friends-central-school-sex-education

Does Your Kid Need a Luxurious Dorm Room?

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Photo by Alethea Jay

Evidently there is a TikToc trend where people post photos of luxe dorm rooms. 

And evidently kids heading off to college soon see these and want them.

Or, some kids do.

According to The Washington Post, some almost college-students are having their dorm rooms wallpapered, they are getting luxury linens, bed skirts, curtains and framed wall art. And, once they arrive at college, their parents are spending hours putting these rooms together.

Some families are even creating registries so that friends and relatives can give luxury items for the dorm room in advance.

What happened to posters put up with tape and sheets and a comforter you didn’t have to worry about?

Or, for my generation, an old camp blanket, the worst sheets in the house and a trunk for the rest of your stuff?

Not anymore.

Some parents are spending $5 -10,000.

So, I wonder…what does this trend mean?

What is it kids are looking for when they insist on outfitting their rooms this way?

And how do the kids who can’t afford these luxuries feel when they see these rooms? 

This leads to a related question:

What are kids and parents trying to accomplish with these rooms?

One designer suggested that custom outfitted rooms would be cozier and prevent homesickness. 

Let’s reflect. The idea that the nicer the dorm room is, the less a teen will miss home is interesting. Is what kids miss when they go to college the comfort of home, or even the luxury of home (when they come from luxurious homes)? Well, perhaps this is some of what they miss. 

But also, homesickness is part of the college experience. It is part of the point of college. At 17 or 18, at least in our culture, many kids leave home in order to go to college to continue their education – but also to continue the separation-individuation process. They go to college to learn more about how to be independent, to broaden their persepectives, to figure out what they think and what they want for their own lives. 

Being homesick is part of leaving. It is part of separating. Missing what was is a necessary part of creating a self that is different from the former self. Missing parents and comforts and familiar friends is a part of mourning the life of childhood.

So, parents, when you send your child off to college, or when you take them to college, think about what message you are sending: if you move everything in for them, if you supply them with lots of new stuff for their dorm room, even lots of luxurious stuff – what are you communicating? Might you be telling them you don’t think they came make the move on their own? Might you be telling them they don’t REALLY have to leave home? Might you be communicating that they can just take home with them? Might you be telling them that they still need you and what you can provide?

Of course, in some ways, your kids DO still need you when they go to college. But you want to encourage them to not need you in all the ways they used to when they were younger. You want to communicate that you have faith in their abilities – even if they don’t have that faith yet.

And remember to check your own feelings as you make those pre-college purchases. Are you giving in to too many requests out of your own feeling of sadness at their going? Or your own anxiety about their going? Or your own fear regarding their ability to separate successfully? Or might you be feeling guilty because you are looking forward to a little more peace and quiet?

Think about it.

For more:

The Over-the-top World of Dorm Decorating, Jenny Singer, The Washington Post, Aug. 19, 2025.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/home/2025/08/19/luxury-dorm-decorating/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F443dc6d%2F68a4a32985d30e1ccc076beb%2F63caa51aa2ddf36a686dd4c3%2F14%2F66%2F68a4a32985d30e1ccc076beb

IS ChatGPT Taking Over Your Children’s Brains?

~ corinnemasur2331 ~ Leave a comment

Everyone is using AI. My patients use it to ask for help with personal issues in between sessions with me. People are using it to ask for help with work problems and to answer random questions. Teachers are using it to write their curriculum and professors are using it to write their lectures.

But how do you feel about your kids using it? Is it Ok for them to use AI to do their homework? on exams? Or to answer questions about how to handle problems with their friends and significant others?

A recent Pew Research Center study found that 26% of teens are using AI to help with schoolwork. (And I just used AI to find that out!)(1)

Black and Hispanic teens (31% each) are even more likely than White teens (22%) to say they have used ChatGPT for their schoolwork, and teens in 11th and 12th grade (31%) are more likely than seventh and eighth graders to use ChatGPT to do their work (1).


54% of teens surveyed said it was acceptable to use ChatGPT to do research and 29% said it was OK to use it to do math problems. But not all teens know about ChatGPT. For those who do, the percentages of those who use it are even larger. As many as 79% of teens who knew about ChapGPT said it was acceptable to use it for research on school projects (1).


And even more college students are using AI, with 86% using it – and many of them using it daily.


Here is the breakdown of how they are using AI according to one study (2):

  • (69%) Search for information
  • (42%) Check grammar
  • (33%) Summarize documents
  • (28%) Paraphrase a document
  • (24%) Create a first draft


So, how do you feel about this?


Is using AI on assignments and exams cheating? Will it get in the way of learning math or grammar skills? Will kids learn how to do their own research if they use AI to do it for them? And what about their using it to create the first draft of a paper or to figure out how to manage a difficult interpersonal issue?


This last one is the part I worry about the most. To me, teens using AI to write a paper or to manage an issue with a friend is a way of getting AI to do their thinking for them. I worry that doing this will curtail their ability to figure out how to negotiate with friends or to build a logical and convincing argument. I worry that it will get in the way of their learning how to express themselves well. I worry that they will not have to do the hard work of THINKING for themselves. These are all important skills. What will happen to our kids’ ability to use critical thinking and to write well if these tasks are farmed out to AI?


Or – is AI the wave of the future and are kids just early adopters, using it in the ways they will continue to use it for the rest of their lives? Will the lawyers of the future (or maybe the present…) use AI to write their briefs and their oral arguments?


After all, AI is already available to doctors at some hospitals to write their patient notes.


Do you want to talk to your kids to see what they think about using AI? Or do you want to establish rules in your house about how much AI your kids are allowed to use when doing schoolwork?


Think about it.

References

1

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/01/15/about-a-quarter-of-u…-

2

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2024/08/28/survey-86-of-students-….

Why Aren’t Kids More Independent?

~ corinnemasur2331 ~ 4 Comments

Kids aren’t doing things independently as much as they used to. This is the thesis of a recent podcast by Screenagers founder, Delany Ruston – and I highly suggest you listen. (See below for link)

Her first premise is that kids are less independent because they spend so much time watching screens. And her second premise is that kids are less independent because of parental anxiety and the restrictions parents put on kids as a result.

Her guest on the podcast is Lenore Skenazy, author of Free Range Kids, the “terrible” mother who let her nine-year-old son ride the subway in New York City.

Well, let me just say, I rode the public bus when I was nine – and I did it because I wanted to. I also went to spend overnights with my best friend – and from the time we were about six, her mother, who didn’t like to cook, would send us to the corner store for lunch.

This was fun. This was exciting. And we didn’t get kidnapped.

But these days, when we see kids riding the bus or the subway at nine or ten and those who walk around alone or with a friend at six we think they are being neglected, possibly abused and definitely in danger.

However, Dr. Ruston said an interesting thing. She quoted a mentor of hers as having said, “People do not mature in preparation for responsibility – they mature as a result of it.”

And from my own personal experience, and as a child psychologist, I have found this to be true.

My father died when I was 14. I started to be the one to lock the doors at night, just as he had once done. I mowed the lawn, as he had done, and when I was 15, I got a job. 

I didn’t do these things because my mother yelled at me and told me I had to. I did these things because I wanted to. And doing these things actually felt good. Doing these things made me feel more confident and more able.  And when I went away to college, I felt prepared to handle myself independently.

Did my boss at work yell at me? Yes. Did she tell me I was terrible at my job? Yes. But I still enjoyed working for her and I REALLY enjoyed getting that paycheck.

Meanwhile, in my practice, I am seeing college-aged kids who don’t seem to know how to do so many things, who seem self critical, who seem to lack confidence and who seem to prefer to sit on their beds and scroll. I see college kids who need to text a parent multiple times a day. And I see college kids who, once they have an internship or a job, can’t stand a moment of criticism and feel like they have the right to push back immediately.

I think these college kids are not used to being independent. I think they feel unsure of themselves and they need to check in with parents to see if what they are doing or what they might do is OK. Often these are the kids who were driven everywhere they needed to go and who were given advice about everything they needed to do.

Of course, their parents restricted their independence out of fear. The kidnapper, the accident, the rapist lurked just around the corner. And their parents gave advice because they wanted the best for their kids. They hired the college consultant because they were unsure about whether their own judgment or their kids’ judgment about which colleges to apply to were good enough. They kept their kids from having jobs because they wanted them to get the best grades they could. They scheduled their kids with activities because this is what they thought was best for their kids.

But does constant protection and constant advice give enough room for kids to experience life for themselves, to make some mistakes, to learn how to handle a yelling boss or a bus that never comes?

I think we all know the answer.

And for the ubiquitous phenomenon of overprotected kids, over anxious kids, and over anxious parents, I, like Dr. Ruston, blame screens. But for once, I don’t blame the screens the kids are on. I think part of the blame goes to the screens the parents are on.

We know that we all receive too much news too much of the time via our phones. And we also know that we all receive an enormous amount of pseudo-news too much of the time. And we know that we keep reading this pseudo-news and we keep clicking on the clickbait even when we know we shouldn’t.

For parents, the content they consume often has to do with all the worst things that can happen to kids, and all the possible criticisms of the parents whose children suffered these terrible things.

No parent wants to be the bad parent. So an abundance of caution, a fear of criticism and genuine love for their children often keep parents from allowing their children a bit of freedom, a chance to take a walk or a bike ride with a friend, a trip on the bus or subway or train by themselves.

And this spills into other decisions – do parents let their kids go on overnights or to overnight camp? Do they let them spend time with aged relatives? With relatives who are sick? Do they let their kids attend wakes or shiva or funerals?

The worry parents experience can lead to restrictions on all sorts of experiences.

Of course, the desire to protect comes from love. But we have to ask, what does our protection lead to in terms of kids’ development?

My parents didn’t watch local news. In fact, they were busy and didn’t really watch TV at all. I’m sure they worried about my taking the bus. And yes, I later found out that my mother followed the bus on the first day and she followed me almost all the way home as I walked from the bus stop. But I didn’t know it. And I was so proud of myself for having successfully ridden the bus home! In fact, a few years later, on nice days I also started walking home from school. And it wasn’t a short walk. My older sister had done this before me and she could often be seen walking down the street while simultaneously reading a book. I wanted the same independence she had. I wanted to be like her. And even though I was six years younger than she was, my parents let me have it.

Getting a hot dog with a friend at age 6, riding the bus at age nine, losing a father at 14 – these experiences, and many more, both good and tragic, can be growth-promoting and independence-promoting experiences – at least, they were for me.

Podcast Link:

https://www.screenagersmovie.com/podcasts/raising-independent-kids?utm_source=TTT+and+Movie&utm_campaign=ed57135e64-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_TTT495&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-e0518a1e9b-160707841&mc_cid=ed57135e64&mc_eid=38d3a9d11c