When eighth graders at St. Anthony Catholic School in Washington, D.C., learned how social media platforms are designed to keep them scrolling, Dominican Sister Mary Simon noticed something in their reaction.
They were angry.
“They do not want to be manipulated,” said Sister Mary Simon, a Dominican Sister of St. Cecilia who designed and taught St. Anthony’s “Theology and Technology” unit while serving as the school’s eighth-grade homeroom and middle school theology teacher last spring.
Sister Mary Simon, who now teaches third grade at St. Anthony, said students wanted to know what they could do once they understood how many of the apps they use every day are designed to capture and hold their attention.
“They want to be free, and when they realize these programs may inhibit that, they want to know the steps to free themselves from it,” she said.
St. Anthony plans to teach the unit again this school year after its first group of eighth graders completed the program in the spring.
The unit began after teachers became concerned about the effects excessive technology use could have on young people and started seeing some of those effects among middle school students.
The lessons started with the students themselves.
During the first week, students kept track of their own screen time and discussed technology through the lens of Catholic teaching. They then learned about reward-seeking behavior and adolescent psychology before studying algorithms and the ways social media apps are designed to keep people engaged.
Later, they studied the history of artificial intelligence, how AI works and why artificial intelligence is not a person.
The final weeks focused on when AI should be used, how to evaluate different uses and the potential benefits and drawbacks.
Sister Mary Simon said two questions helped determine what students would study.
“What do these young adults need to know about themselves in order to use technology well?” she said. “And what do they need to know about technology itself in order to use it well?”
Understanding themselves meant learning about adolescent psychology and why younger people can be more vulnerable to unhealthy technology habits.
Understanding the technology meant learning what happens behind the screen, including how algorithms work and how artificial intelligence is programmed.
Catholic teaching on human dignity was part of the unit from the beginning, Sister Mary Simon said.
“The whole program was rooted in the concept of human dignity and our call to be intentional about how we live our lives on earth,” she said.
Students discussed how human ingenuity can produce new technology and how those tools can be used for good.
“We are not here to be entertained or made comfortable, we are here to pursue greatness, which comes from setting our sights on God and letting his truth inform all of our decisions, including those about how we use the gifts he gave us,” Sister Mary Simon said.
During the first year, students did not use AI tools in class. Teachers demonstrated them, while students practiced writing and evaluating prompts and talked about situations in which using artificial intelligence might or might not be appropriate.
Sister Mary Simon said students wanted to know where those lines should be drawn.
“They really want to know the boundaries for how to use AI,” she said.
The students’ posts on the class’s online discussion board offered some of the clearest evidence the lessons were getting through. Sister Mary Simon shared several of the responses with the Catholic Standard. The students were not identified.
After studying algorithms and social media, one student reconsidered the cost of “free” social media.
“To me, this makes me feel like I'm being used because the whole point of the algorithm is to keep me glued to my phone and make me addicted,” the student wrote.
The student said social media carries a cost.
“My time and my privacy,” the student wrote. “Now that I'm aware of this, I want to be more careful on how I use social media and how long I use it.”
Another student wrote the unit was changing how the student wanted to spend time.
“Social media is ‘free,’ but it never was in any sense,” the student wrote.
Other students examined technology from a Catholic perspective.
One wrote technology can help people appreciate creation and human creativity. Another reflected on the relationship between technology and freedom.
“Technology, if used with responsibility, can be a great tool,” the student wrote. “Freedom comes when we use technology with a purpose instead of letting technology define us.”
Sister Mary Simon said schools should address artificial intelligence and technology use with eighth and ninth graders as students begin thinking more critically about what they encounter online while forming habits around technology use.
“Students need explicit instructions with clear reasoning as to the proper boundaries of when to use AI,” she said.
She said rules alone are not enough.
“Their schools need to be able to provide that for them in a way that guides them and leads them to truth rather than just imposing regulations,” she said.
The program included parents as well.
The eighth graders presented what they learned first to parents and members of the school community and later to students in fifth through seventh grades.
Sister Mary Simon said families needed to be part of the conversation because many of the habits students were discussing extend beyond the classroom.
“Good boundaries for students are best modeled and enforced by their parents,” she said, “so having them on board is crucial for setting students up for success in a digital age.”
The Catholic Standard attended the students’ presentation May 26, one day after Pope Leo XIV released Magnifica Humanitas, his first encyclical that addresses artificial intelligence and human dignity.
The St. Anthony unit was already underway when Pope Leo released the encyclical. Sister Mary Simon said Magnifica Humanitas can now serve as a resource as the school continues the program.
“Now that it is out it will be an excellent guide and resource for us as we seek to help students live fruitful lives in a digital age,” she said.
Principal Michael Thomasian said the students’ presentations last spring challenged the adults in the room.
“The class’s presentations shared powerful reminders and best practices that weren’t necessarily easy to hear because they are really a challenge — a call to action,” Thomasian said.
He said he plans to continue working with faculty on how St. Anthony addresses artificial intelligence across the school.
“I see this as key to providing a well-rounded Catholic education,” he said.
Sister Mary Simon said she hopes students leave eighth grade understanding both themselves and the technology around them.
“Our hope is that our students graduate with an understanding of who they are and how new technologies work that can inform their choices as they pursue lives of freedom and service, rooted in an encounter with Jesus Christ,” she said.
