The Harris family say that their school’s student handbook does not detail any specific policy on AI use, and it is therefore unfair to punish their son for using AI tools.
A Massachusetts family has filed a lawsuit against Hingham school officials for suspending a student accused of using artificial intelligence to complete a project.
According to CBS News, the complaint was filed earlier this week in federal court. In their complaint, plaintiffs Dale and Jennifer Harris say that their son was subjected to “arbitrary grading” and refused an opportunity to join the National Honor Society over an “alleged academic integrity violation.”
“The punishing actions have a significant, severe, and continuing impact on [Plaintiff’s] future earning capacity, earning potential, and acceptance into an elite college or university course of study given his exemplary academic achievements,” the lawsuit alleges.
“While there is much dispute as to whether the use of generative AI constitutes plagiarism, plagiarism is defined as the practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own,” the lawsuit states. “During the project, [Plaintiff] and his classmate did not take someone else’s work or ideas and pass them off as their own.”
The Harris family say that their school’s student handbook does not detail any specific policy on AI use, and it is therefore unfair to punish their son for using AI tools. It asks that the school be compelled to raise the student’s Social Studies grade to a “B,” and that any relevant mention of “cheating” or “academic dishonesty” be removed from his disciplinary record.
“[Our son] is applying to elite colleges and universities given his high level of academic and personal achievement,” the lawsuit alleges. “Absent the grant of an injunction by this Court, the Student will suffer irreparable harm that is imminent.”
CBS News notes that Harris’s mother is a writer, whereas his father is a teacher.
“This is a kid I really believe can do anything he wants,” said the boy’s mother, Jenifer Harris. “He is looking at some of the top schools in the country and his top-notch school, his first choice, is Stanford.”
The family stressed that, in the boy’s honors-level Social Studies course, he was paired with another student and instructed to write a paper on “a famous person and their civil actions.”
Both students use artificial intelligence notes to generate notes and create an outline, but Harris’s mother says that neither boy used AI during their writing process.
“I know my son defended himself to the school saying AI is not cheating, and it’s not plagiarism,” Harris said. “He said if you look it up, it’s well documented that AI is the property of the person who generated it.”
Sources
Hingham parents sue school district, claiming son unfairly punished for AI use
Parents of Hingham student sue school district after son disciplined for using AI on school project
Student’s parents sue Massachusetts school over discipline for using AI on project
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