Trust, Tech Bans, and Centering the Rising Generations | Dr. Janice Jackson | Aspen Institute

Are screen bans solving the right problem, or just creating new ones? Host Mike Palmer welcomes Dr. Janice Jackson, Executive Director of the Education & Society Program at the Aspen Institute and former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, for a conversation that trades hyperbole for nuance. Janice traces her path from CPS history teacher and debate coach to superintendent, then to founder of Hope Chicago, and now to Aspen. There she helps lead the new Rising Generations Strategy Group, a cross-sector, cross-partisan, intergenerational effort that puts young people at the center of the conversation, not just on the input list.

Janice draws a clear line between phones in classrooms (ban them) and technology that augments learning (hold it accountable). She makes the equity case against blanket bans, calls for digital literacy over prohibition, and pushes the edtech industry to prove efficacy. The two dig into several threads:

> Aspen's first convening, where students opened with four provocations.

> An "AI Futures" exercise weighing risk and opportunity.

> Declining trust in institutions.

> The role of state policy, like Illinois' new AI legislation.

> A powerful lesson from Hope Chicago: getting help isn't cheating, it's what advantaged students have always done. If technology can level that playing field, we should embrace it.

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Resources Mentioned:

Aspen Institute Education & Society Program

Rising Generation Strategy Group