LaGuardia High Students Walk Out Protesting AI in Education

Nearly 100 students at LaGuardia High School, the Manhattan arts school that inspired the movie "Fame," walked out of class on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, to demand a freeze on artificial intelligence, citing concerns that the technology could threaten their future careers and cognitive development. The walkout was part of a day of anti-AI high school and college protests across New York, including at Fordham University, SUNY Purchase and Stony Brook. LaGuardia students left the Upper West Side building at noon and marched across 65th Street to Lincoln Center, chanting "Who's future? Our future!"

Senior Mieke Nievergelt said it was telling that students must protest against AI while administrators perpetuate its use in education. "Adults don't understand the effect that AI has on young minds," she said, adding that adults had time to form their minds without AI doing it for them. Fellow student speakers emphasized that art does not need to be good to be valuable: "If you want to make art, it doesn't have to be good. It just has to be yours."

New York City Mayor Mamdani and Chancellor Kamar Samuels recently implemented a one-year pause on generative AI through eighth grade. High schools may still use AI with restrictions: principals can apply to one of five pre-approved AI pilot programs or offer it as part of career training, and all high schoolers must complete AI literacy training. Samuels said the city's responsibility differs for high schoolers because AI is increasingly part of the world and workforce they are about to enter. Spokespeople for the public schools where students walked out did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The policy reverses the city's earlier stance. When ChatGPT was first introduced, education officials reflexively banned it over potential cheating and plagiarism. A systemwide AI policy was delayed until March, when Samuels released a first draft for teachers and school leaders that largely sidestepped harder decisions about student AI use and protecting critical thinking skills; that draft was later revised into the current policy.

Students also say AI is already entering LaGuardia. A national campaign on student belonging supplied AI-generated music that upset many students, and some teens accused the LaGuardia Parents Association of replacing original student art with AI-generated posters, including for the annual Rising Stars talent show and fundraiser. A senior singer-songwriter said parents used Canva AI and ChatGPT for posters even though students dedicated to that work exist. Sophomore Alexandre Rollin-Dijkhuis, who had a story published, said generative AI could not reproduce the personal reflection in student writing: "Everybody has a story. Do not let generative AI write yours." The protesters planned to meet outside OpenAI's New York office in SoHo that night.

Nearly 100 students at LaGuardia High School, the Manhattan arts school that inspired the movie "Fame," walked out of class on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, to demand a freeze on artificial intelligence, citing concerns that the technology could threaten their future careers and cognitive development. The walkout was part of a day of anti-AI high school and college protests across New York, including at Fordham University, SUNY Purchase and Stony Brook. LaGuardia students left the Upper West Side building at noon and marched across 65th Street to Lincoln Center, chanting "Who's future? Our future!"

Senior Mieke Nievergelt said it was telling that students must protest against AI while administrators perpetuate its use in education. "Adults don't understand the effect that AI has on young minds," she said, adding that adults had time to form their minds without AI doing it for them. Fellow student speakers emphasized that art does not need to be good to be valuable: "If you want to make art, it doesn't have to be good. It just has to be yours."

New York City Mayor Mamdani and Chancellor Kamar Samuels recently implemented a one-year pause on generative AI through eighth grade. High schools may still use AI with restrictions: principals can apply to one of five pre-approved AI pilot programs or offer it as part of career training, and all high schoolers must complete AI literacy training. Samuels said the city's responsibility differs for high schoolers because AI is increasingly part of the world and workforce they are about to enter. Spokespeople for the public schools where students walked out did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The policy reverses the city's earlier stance. When ChatGPT was first introduced, education officials reflexively banned it over potential cheating and plagiarism. A systemwide AI policy was delayed until March, when Samuels released a first draft for teachers and school leaders that largely sidestepped harder decisions about student AI use and protecting critical thinking skills; that draft was later revised into the current policy.

Students also say AI is already entering LaGuardia. A national campaign on student belonging supplied AI-generated music that upset many students, and some teens accused the LaGuardia Parents Association of replacing original student art with AI-generated posters, including for the annual Rising Stars talent show and fundraiser. A senior singer-songwriter said parents used Canva AI and ChatGPT for posters even though students dedicated to that work exist. Sophomore Alexandre Rollin-Dijkhuis, who had a story published, said generative AI could not reproduce the personal reflection in student writing: "Everybody has a story. Do not let generative AI write yours." The protesters planned to meet outside OpenAI's New York office in SoHo that night.