Teen parliament 2025: Amy Wallace wants schools to be on the same page with AI
Year 12 student Amy Wallace advocated for increased understanding of the benefits of AI in the classroom in her application for Teen parliament 2025. Apply here.
SA News
Don't miss out on the headlines from SA News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
All South Australian schools should be united in embracing artificial intelligence in the classroom, Amy Wallace says.
The technology is transforming education, but schools lack a unified approach, the Scotch College year 12 student said.
Amy, 17, is among applicants for The Advertiser’s Teen Parliament 2025, with entrants in the running to become one of 30 students representing the youth of SA at Parliament House on February 14.
Students from years 10, 11 and 12 have just days left to submit their ideas on topics such as health, education, environment, transport and energy.
Applications close on February 6.
At least seven students will receive a $10,000 scholarship following the event.
During Amy’s research for a book she recently started co-writing, she discovered there is a “stark divide” between schools which outright ban AI and those which embrace it.
Amy’s book, co-written with technology industry partners and her teachers, will focus on how the stigma around AI can be broken-down and how it can be used in education.
“I found widespread apprehension about AI, even among STEM-focused students,” the Aldgate teen said.
“Rather than focusing on preventing plagiarism, the emphasis should be on training teachers and students to use AI effectively and ethically to enhance learning.”
In public schools, the Education Department partnered with Microsoft to launch its own AI chatbot called EdChat in July 2023.
The chatbot uses the same technology as ChatGPT with extra design features to protect students from accessing inappropriate information.
The department then launched a trial of the new technology in public schools involving 10,000 students and 1500 educators across 16 secondary campuses.
Part of Amy’s solution to embracing AI is to create a body consisting of stakeholders from both the public and private education sectors which will launch events and forums.
At Scotch College, students have been taught “how to use AI ethically”.
Amy is part of a digital leaders team at Scotch, consisting of about a dozen students which run courses and personal development sessions for parents and staff on how to use AI tools.
Using chatbots and text-to-video programs, Amy said her learning has become “more effective and efficient”.
“A lot of people have this idea that AI is doing all the work for you but if it’s used properly that’s not the case,” Amy said.
“I think of it as a mentor or second teacher.”
Zoe’s plea for consent education
Zoe Adams wants a safer future for young people.
The year 11 student at Hamilton Secondary College wants more comprehensive consent education in South Australian schools.
Zoe, from Eden Hills, said much of consent education “assumes it (assault) only happens to adults and that it will be someone you don’t know (perpetrating)”.
“I want more teachers to implement thorough education on consent and people think kids are exempt from the rules,” she said.
“Not simple ‘no means no’, but signs of peer pressure or being forced into something you don’t want to do.”
Children who are poorly educated are not only at risk of “becoming victims but also unintentionally harming others due to ignorance”.
“By fostering a culture of respect and accountability, we can break the cycle of harm perpetrating … and other forms of abuse,” she said.
The teen said much of consent education “goes in one ear and out the other”.
“I want people to know it does happen and I want people to be able to say they’re not comfortable,” Zoe said.
“Hopefully it decreases how much it happens and also that perpetrators know it’s wrong.”
Education, rather than merely protection of children, will lead to a safer future, she said, as “there’s not enough understanding”.
“They’re under the impression we’re too young to know about sex but there are people who do it younger,” Zoe said. “I want young people to know they’re not alone in this.”
After school, Zoe hopes to study as a psychologist so she can help people.
Jairaj solution to SA’s housing crisis
A family trip to India inspired year 11 student Jairaj Shekhawat to think about a solution to South Australia’s housing crisis.
The 15-year-old Glenunga International High School student says the way to provide more housing and additional affordable options is to build upwards.
“I look at the news and see housing shortages and in the (recent) holidays I went to India and they have a lot of these high rise apartment buildings,” Jairaj, from Glenunga, said.
“The population is really high so they need to fit a lot of people on the land.
“I thought why don’t we have apartments if we have a housing shortage?”
During his trips to India, Jairaj experiences high-rise apartment living first-hand as he stays with his relatives.
The teen’s proposal, which he says would be “perfect for first home buyers”, is to build modular, prefabricated apartments.
“Right now it’s looking quite difficult because prices are going up and lots of people want houses but not everyone can afford them,” Jairaj said.
“People can live in these to start with because they’re low cost.”
It would work well as a first step into homeownership and “as they get settled, they can buy their first home” later, he said.
The project would involve building walls and rooms in a factory and then assembling the pieces, rather than constructing houses brick by brick.
“It would also cut down on emissions,” said the climate conscious student.
After school, Jairaj hopes to become an engineer or architect as in year 10, he got a taste for it with an architectural design class where he had to look at “using certain materials to reduce environmental impact”.
This experience informed his proposal for the future housing of SA by using recycled steel and rammed earth for the builds.
“We had to design a tiny home and use recycled materials instead of conventional brick,” Jairaj said.
The student, who said “loves debating and public speaking”, was interested in Teen parliament after seeing last year’s coverage.
“It was really cool and I’m curious to see what South Australia needs to do,” he said.
Originally published as Teen parliament 2025: Amy Wallace wants schools to be on the same page with AI
‘Not who I am’: Mother who threatened student speaks out
A mother who threatened to “slit” a 12-year-old student’s throat at a private school in Adelaide’s north has spoken out, saying she was at her wits’ end.
Fight Square: Concerns over plan to transform popular CBD streets
Controversial council plans to substitute the road west of Light Square for green space have been met with opposition from councillors and nearby business owners.