Survey shows 61% of Indians back classroom AI as US’s top school districts impose bans

New York City and Los Angeles, the two largest school districts in the US, are taking sweeping steps to curb students’ use of generative artificial intelligence (AI), reflecting growing concerns over children’s dependence on the technology.

The moves come as schools, parents and educators in the US and elsewhere grapple with how AI should be used in education. While some see the technology as a tool for future learning and skills, others fear it could weaken critical thinking, encourage cheating and reduce face-to-face interaction.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced on Wednesday that public schools will temporarily prohibit elementary and middle school students from using generative AI during the upcoming school year.

The one-year moratorium will cover all software that uses student-facing generative AI for students up to and including eighth grade. The mayor’s office described it as the most expansive prohibition of its kind in the US.

The policy is part of a wider assessment of how children in the country’s largest school system use and interact with AI technology.

“Each day when our children come to school, we teach them to ask questions, to challenge assumptions, to interrogate the premise, to ask why. When it comes to AI in our schools, we hold an obligation to do the same,” Mamdani, a Democrat, said at a news conference.

However, the city is not seeking to remove AI entirely from education.

High school students will get AI lessons

New York will introduce AI literacy classes twice a year for all public high school students. It will also run pilot programmes in which some high school students can use a limited number of AI platforms under educator supervision.

Companion chatbots, however, will be prohibited across all grades.

Teachers will still be allowed to use AI for instructional planning and operational tasks.

The city will also recommend limits on students’ daily screen time. The suggested cap will be 30 minutes for students in grades three to five and 45 minutes for those in grades six to eight.

Education officials are separately planning a broad review of technology tools used across the school system. Tools considered non-essential to learning will be removed.

New York City public school students are scheduled to return to classrooms next week.

Los Angeles also pauses student AI access

Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the second-largest school district in the US, has also taken action against student access to generative AI.

Students returned to classrooms in mid-August, but the district is temporarily blocking access to generative AI tools on student devices across all grades.

LAUSD said on Wednesday that the restriction will remain in place while officials develop a student AI policy during the school year.

The move follows a wider screen-time policy introduced by the district in June. LAUSD became the first major school district to restrict school-issued devices for its youngest pupils, banning their use before second grade, introducing screen-time limits across all grades and blocking YouTube and other social media sites during the school day.

The district has also faced controversy over AI. Its former superintendent, who had previously supported AI, resigned amid an FBI investigation into an elementary-school chatbot project.

Parents and teachers raise concerns

The restrictions reflect concerns among parents and educators that children could become overly dependent on AI to complete schoolwork instead of developing their own reasoning and problem-solving abilities.

In New York, officials have also raised concerns about technology companies placing commercial interests ahead of students’ welfare, including questions around data privacy.

Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers in New York, welcomed the proposed screen-time limits but said the AI policy still “leaves many questions unanswered”.

He specifically questioned how the Education Department would become “more aggressive in demanding the products it purchases have AI safeguards.”

Josh Golin, executive director of children’s advocacy group Fairplay, argued that New York should have imposed a longer moratorium and allowed more time between announcing the policy and the beginning of the school year.

“A year to evaluate is not nearly enough time,” he said, arguing that AI platforms should have to prove that their products are effective for teaching children, safe to use, do not displace face-to-face interaction and do not result in widespread cheating.

US states take different approaches

New York and Los Angeles are part of a broader US debate over how schools should handle AI.

At least 37 states have issued official AI guidance that schools can use as a framework. However, there is no common definition of AI literacy and no consensus on how it should be taught.

The restrictions have also cut across traditional political lines. New York’s Democratic leadership has found itself taking a position similar in some respects to conservative lawmakers in states such as Utah, where measures have included restrictions on automated grading and limits on screen time for younger pupils.

New York state also approved a ban on students’ use of mobile phones in schools last year.

Other countries are taking different paths

The debate extends well beyond the US, with countries adopting markedly different approaches to AI in schools.

Norway has banned generative AI from primary schools, citing the need to protect basic learning milestones in areas such as reading and mathematics.

Italy requires parental permission for children under 14 to use generative AI tools.

In Australia, New South Wales has moved to restrict take-home assignments as part of efforts to prevent students from using AI to cheat. South Australia, by contrast, has embraced the technology by launching a secure school chatbot with Microsoft.

The contrasting policies highlight the absence of a common international approach to AI in education.

Indian parents remain more open to classroom AI

The debate takes a different shape in India, where parents remain comparatively positive about educational technology.

According to the Ipsos Education Monitor 2026, Indian respondents draw a distinction between personal devices that can be distracting and technology designed specifically for learning.

The survey found that 78% of Indian respondents support banning social media for children under 14, while more than half favour banning mobile phones in schools.

Support for banning AI tools such as ChatGPT is considerably lower, at 26%.

Meanwhile, 61% of Indians oppose banning AI from classrooms, viewing the technology as a useful tool for preparing students for the future.

The figures point to a significant difference in attitudes: while concerns over excessive screen use and social media remain strong in India, classroom AI is more widely viewed as an educational resource than something that should be prohibited.