10/06/2026
As technology and AI continue to shape our world, our schools must prepare students for the future while protecting the fundamentals that help them succeed.
I believe we can embrace innovation without abandoning the value of handwriting, critical thinking, face-to-face discussion, and strong foundational skills. It's not about choosing one or the other—it's about balance.
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Plan for tech advancement
Kudos to The Post and Courier for pairing two seemingly unrelated columns in its Friday edition — "Balancing screen time in school" by Horry County Schools Superintendent Clifford Jones and Charleston County School Superintendent Anita Huggins and "US and China have a common foe. Hint: It's not the USSR." by New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman.
One addresses education, and the other geopolitics, yet both wrestle with the same existential question: Will technology — ubiquitous screens and super-empowering artificial intelligence — lift our human species to new heights, or help us obliterate ourselves?
Notably, both columns use the word "guardrails." That's no coincidence. Huggins, Jones and Friedman all acknowledge they cannot see the future perfectly. But rather than retreating from the challenge, they argue we must step forward carefully — bending technology toward human flourishing while guarding against its dangers.
Huggins and Jones want students reading, writing and thinking — and they're willing to make mistakes in pursuit of that. Friedman believes cooperation between the United States and China could turn technological competition away from catastrophe.
Neither camp is blithely hoping for the best. They are laying plans for it.
