On November 20, 2024, OpenAI and an outfit called "Common Sense Media" released a guide to using ChatGPT in K-12 education—a guide which shows a shocking lack of common sense. Just as Melanie Dusseau tells us in the context of higher ed, K-12 educators can and should resist this sales pitch. ChatGPT won't improve your teaching, won't save you time (anymore than not doing your job would save you time), and doesn't represent a key skill set that your students must have, lest they be left behind.
K-12 educators can and should resist the sales pitch. And that's extra work, I know, and I'm sorry—K-12 educators already have more than enough on their collective and individual plates. Even the effort it takes to turn away from glitzy sales pitches seems like a lot to ask, much less the effort it takes to resist when administrators buy in and start pushing these systems. Let's add this to the pile of harms that OpenAI has perpetrated on the world, even as they claim (here too! think of the children!) to be acting for the good of humanity.
If you're exhausted by all of this you can stop here, with the affirmation that it's not only reasonable but in fact principled and beneficial to say no to ChatGPT and all other GenAI in the classroom.