In a spirited, straight-from-the-heart conversation hosted by Houston Community Media, Texas State Representative Jolanda “Jo” Jones of House District 147 delivered a message that was part warning bell, part civics lesson, and part grandmotherly truth serum: technology may be moving fast, but our children still need the old-fashioned power of thinking for themselves.

The Tuesday, June 22, 2026, during a Zoom interview, part of the “Who Cares About Our Youth?” series supported by Houston Endowment, focused on the impact of artificial intelligence and social media on young people across Houston and Texas. Rep. Jones, a former Houston City Council member, former Houston ISD trustee, attorney, author, athlete, and longtime advocate for underserved communities, did not tiptoe into the subject. She marched in wearing track shoes and carrying receipts. The Texas House identifies Jones as the representative for District 147, with a district office on Almeda Road in Houston.

Jones’ concern is simple but serious: students are gaining access to powerful tools before many have mastered the foundational skills those tools can quietly replace. In the transcript, Jones repeatedly emphasized that young people must first learn how to write, reason, problem-solve, spell, punctuate, question, and struggle through hard assignments before turning to AI for help. “There is a benefit to struggle,” she said, warning that AI too often removes the very friction that builds intellectual muscle.

That concern lands in a national moment when schools are trying to decide whether AI is a tutor, a shortcut, a threat, or all three wearing one very polished digital suit. The U.S. Department of Education has warned that AI use in schools must be safe, effective, privacy-protective, nondiscriminatory, explainable, and subject to human recourse when problems arise. For communities of color, Jones raised an additional concern: bias. If AI tools, detection systems, or school discipline policies are unevenly designed or enforced, Black and Brown students could be unfairly labeled, punished, or academically tracked.

  

Jones also connected AI to a deeper democratic issue: the ability of young people to become informed citizens. A democracy needs voters who can read beyond headlines, question misinformation, understand history, and make decisions without outsourcing judgment to an algorithm. In Jones’ view, handwritten assignments, strong teachers, books, grammar, discipline, and parental guidance are not relics. They are civic infrastructure.

On social media, Jones was equally direct. She described a world where filters, green screens, staged lifestyles, and digital applause can distort a young person’s sense of reality. That worry is backed by public health data. The U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory notes that up to 95% of youth ages 13 to 17 report using a social media platform, with about one-third saying they use social media “almost constantly.” The same advisory says the nation does not yet have enough evidence to conclude that social media is sufficiently safe for children and adolescents.

For Houston families, Jones’ message was not anti-technology as much as pro-child. She acknowledged AI may help with simple tasks but insisted that the first draft of a thought should come from the student’s own mind. Her formula was clear: human brain first, machine second.

The most powerful moment came when Jones said she is considering a town hall on the dangers of AI for children and grandchildren. Then came the line every democracy should print on a classroom wall: “The world is run by those who show up.”

Houston Style Magazine agrees. Our youth deserve innovation, yes—but also wisdom, protection, literacy, mental health support, and adults brave enough to show up before the algorithm does.