📌 Here’s what you’ll learn in today’s issue:

• Why Ohio State’s new AI fluency mandate is a wake-up call for every parent

• The reason “AI fluency” is the new literacy—and how your child might already be falling behind

• 5 simple ways to help your kid become AI fluent this summer (without needing tech skills yourself)

• A parent-tested prompt to teach your child how to think with AI, not just copy from it

🧠 The Big Idea: Ohio State Just Drew a Line in the Sand—Will Your Kid Be Ready?

It’s happening faster than you think. 

We’re talking about Ohio today, but trust us, this will happen in every school in every state - and every country. 

Ohio State University has just launched a sweeping AI Fluency Initiative—mandating that every incoming freshman become “bilingual”: proficient both in their field and in applying AI tools like ChatGPT within their area of study.

That means required seminars, workshops, and even a one‑credit “Unlocking Generative AI” course open to all majors.

They’re not tip‑toeing around AI—they’re doubling down. 

And it’s all under the label AI fluency—a term they’ve formalized to signal a shift from optional to essential. 

Why it matters—and why it's scary:

1. AI fluency is now core curriculum.

Every student must know how to use AI—not as a gimmick, but as a core part of their education and future career.

2. They’re cracking down on cheating while encouraging real use.

Ohio State explicitly bans submitting AI-generated work as one's own. Faculty are being trained on best practices, academic integrity protocols, and how to enforce rules.

3. It's more than talk—it’s culture change.

They're embedding AI into launch seminars, mandatory first‑year success workshops, elective AI‑focused courses, faculty support programs backed by the Drake Institute, hackathons, prototyping workshops, and startup labs.

That means we aren’t just talking about “AI is allowed.” We’re celebrating kids who know how to collaborate with it, creatively and responsibly.

One of the largest universities in the nation just made it clear:

But AI fluency isn’t “nice to have.” It’s non-negotiable. 

Yet, most parents and kids are still tiptoeing around AI—if they're using it at all, it's as a crutch or a shortcut, not as a thinking partner.

And while today it’s college, spreading fast to K–12 via Ohio’s AI in Education Coalition, tomorrow it’ll be everywhere.

That means your child is at risk of starting school already behind. The clock is ticking.

Here’s the real takeaway:

They aren’t just asking kids to use AI.

They’re demanding they understand it, question it, and innovate with it—ethically, creatively, and fluently.

That’s exactly what we’ll teach you to do in today's Action Plan.

💬 Future Proof Parent ACTION Plan

How to Help Your Child Become AI Fluent Over Summer Vacation 

AI fluency doesn’t mean your child becomes a programmer or builds a chatbot from scratch. It means they can confidently work with AI, not just copy-paste from it.

Here’s how to get them started this summer:

✅ 1. Define the New Literacy

What to say:

“AI fluency means you know how to use tools like ChatGPT to research, solve problems, write better, and learn faster—without letting it do all the thinking for you.”

Start there. Make sure your child knows this isn’t cheating—it’s the new skillset colleges and careers are already demanding.

💬 2. Use It for Something They Actually Care About

Challenge your child to use AI to help with:

• Planning a trip or summer activity
  

• Writing a song, poem, or short story
  

• Designing a video game character
  

• Creating a list of college essay ideas
  

The goal: make it useful, creative, and real.

🧠 3. Teach Them to “Think With, Not Through” AI

The best prompt your child can learn to ask is:

“Help me think through this, but don’t do it for me.”

Encourage them to critique AI answers. Ask follow-ups. Adjust tone. Push back when it’s too generic. That’s where the real learning happens.

🧪 4. Set Up a Weekly AI Challenge

Pick one mini-project a week:

• Write a 300-word story with a twist ending
  

• Create a fake product and write ad copy
  

• Research a topic and fact-check AI’s sources
  

• Draft an email to a summer camp director
  

Then talk about how they used AI—and what they’d do differently next time.

🧰 5. Use These Tools to Build Their Skills

• ChatGPT (free version is fine) – conversation and creativity
  

• Notion AI or Google Docs + AI – writing help
  

• Perplexity.ai – search and source-checking
  

• Canva Magic Write – design with AI prompts
  

• Character.ai – experiment with interactive bots
  

🚀 Bonus Tip: Track Progress with a Simple AI Journal

Have your child write 1–2 lines each day:

“Today I used AI to ___ and here’s what I learned…”

It’s not about the perfect prompt. It’s about building fluency, confidence, and awareness—one step at a time.

🐝 What’s Buzzing for Mom & Dad Today

Big shifts are happening fast: from AI stepping into the co-parenting role to real concerns about how it's shaping our kids' creativity. Here’s what Future Proof Parents are digging into right now:

💔 Got a Friend or Family Member Struggling with Addiction?
A new study just revealed something chilling: AI tools like ChatGPT may accidentally push recovering addicts toward relapse. It’s not intentional—but it happens. And with more people turning to AI for therapy-like advice, this could hit closer to home than you think.
👉 Here’s why it matters

🔍 AI Might Be Tracking Your Family Already

Just a single vacation photo can allow AI (like ChatGPT or Claude) to identify exact locations—down to the beach your child just visited. That isn’t just creepy—it’s a new kind of privacy threat that parents need to understand now.

👉 Read how AI is turning pictures into surveillance tools

⚖️ The AI Legal Fight Every Parent Should Watch
The New York Times is suing OpenAI. Why? They say ChatGPT is plagiarizing their work. OpenAI says they’re twisting the facts. But here’s the real question for parents: Should AI be allowed to learn from everything on the internet—including what your kids read, write, and post?

👉 OpenAI’s official response is here

Working together to future-proof the next generation!

AIVA (Artificial Intelligence. Very Aware.)
Your friendly guide to the AI era