What's Actually Happening in Schools Nationwide

Hermann describes a consistent pattern she sees across the country, in red states and blue states alike: a young girl, often in elementary school, encounters a biological boy in the restroom — sometimes a peer, sometimes an adult male on campus for maintenance or other work. When the girl objects or a parent calls the school, Hermann says families are frequently told their daughter simply has to accept it.

She points to one case her organization is currently handling out of Kansas, where a first-grade girl was told that if she wanted privacy, she would have to walk alone across the entire school campus to use a separate bathroom near the front office — a requirement Hermann notes conflicts directly with the school's own safety policies requiring young children to have a buddy anywhere else on campus. According to Hermann, the child, now in fifth grade, ultimately required mental health treatment because of the shame she experienced over simply wanting privacy.

Family Policy Alliance has also been raising concerns about the risks AI chatbots can pose to children, including bots engaging minors in inappropriate conversations and encouraging harmful behaviors.

When AI Becomes More Than a Tool

Grayston isn't anti-AI. He uses it himself and has heard plenty of stories about artificial intelligence making people's jobs easier and more efficient.

But there's a line between using AI as a tool and allowing AI to become a substitute for human relationships.

Grayston hears about people using AI for counseling. Parents have told him they're worried teenagers are replacing traditional relationships with what he calls "counterfeit relationships" and "counterfeit intimacy." Others have approached him with concerns about loved ones developing inappropriate relationships with companion bots.

AI also presents another challenge: it can sound remarkably confident even when it's wrong.

Grayston has encountered that himself when asking AI theological questions. For someone who is spiritually curious but doesn't have a pastor or trusted Christian community to turn to, an authoritative-sounding answer from a chatbot can be difficult to recognize as inaccurate.

His biblical argument goes even deeper.

In Genesis, God says it is not good for man to be alone. Grayston points to that as evidence of something fundamental about humanity: we were created to need other people.

No matter how human a chatbot sounds, he argues, it cannot replace the relationships, purpose and community God designed human beings to have.

What Can Parents Do About AI?

For parents, this isn't a problem to save for the future.

Grayston says elementary-age children are already encountering AI on devices, and parents shouldn't assume their children are too young to know about ChatGPT, companion bots or other AI tools.

His first advice is simple: have the conversation.

Ask what your children are using. Set clear boundaries about which platforms are appropriate. Consider where and how devices can be used. And don't assume your child has to have unrestricted access to a smartphone simply because everyone else does.

Grayston and his wife faced that pressure themselves. They decided their daughter couldn't have a phone until she was 13. At the time, he says, she thought they were the worst parents in the world.

Today, he doesn't regret it for a second.

But protecting children in a rapidly changing digital world can't fall on parents alone. As AI becomes embedded in the apps, platforms and devices children use, parents need to remain at the center of decisions affecting their children — and technology companies need to be held accountable when their products put kids at risk.

That's part of the broader work Family Policy Alliance is advancing through Let Parents Parent, which defends parents' God-given right to direct the upbringing, education and care of their children.

The Nationwide Title IX Injunction — How Three Mothers Made It Happen

Hermann describes a case her organization brought during the Biden administration, after the Department of Education redefined "sex" under Title IX to include gender identity — a change that would have required every school in the country to allow biological males into girls' bathrooms, locker rooms, and sports. Working with Moms for Liberty, Southeastern Legal Foundation represented three mothers whose daughters were directly affected, including one who would have been forced to change into a swimsuit in front of boys for a mandatory high school swim class.

According to Hermann, the case moved from filing to a nationwide injunction blocking the rule in all 50 states in under six weeks — a result she attributes directly to those mothers' willingness to come forward and tell their stories in court.

This same fight over locker rooms, changing spaces and fair access for girls is central to Family Policy Alliance's Save Girls' Sports campaign, which works to protect girls' opportunities and safety in athletics nationwide. That work reached a major milestone this year when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld states' ability to protect female athletic teams based on biological sex under Title IX.

Why Policy and Legal Action Have to Work Together

Hermann argues that legal wins alone aren't enough without policy organizations pushing complementary legislation — and vice versa. Strong laws without enforcement in court have no teeth, she says, while legal victories can be undone if legislatures and agencies don't move policy in the same direction. She also points to the role legal and policy organizations play in simply educating parents on rights they may not know they have, so that wins on either side aren't quietly eroded.

Hermann also cites polling she says shows more than 80% of Americans agree that boys shouldn't be in girls' bathrooms — a majority she believes isn't being reflected in how many schools currently operate.

A Fight Hermann Calls Defining for This Generation

Hermann frames this issue in stark terms: as a civil rights fight, a free speech fight, and a religious liberty fight simultaneously. She says protecting children's privacy and dignity in these situations is the work she expects to be proudest of when she looks back on her career.

How to Get Help

Southeastern Legal Foundation represents families free of charge as a 501(c)(3) organization. If your family is encountering a similar situation, Hermann encourages parents not to wait or assume nothing can be done.

Learn more or reach out to Southeastern Legal Foundation at slfliberty.org.

Learn more about Family Policy Alliance and join us at familypolicyalliance.com.

Listen to The Family Policy Alliance Report

Take The Family Policy Alliance Report with you for more conversations about the issues affecting faith, family and freedom. Follow the podcast on your favorite platform:

Hamilton’s emphasis on knowing not only what you believe, but why you believe it, echoes an earlier conversation on The Family Policy Alliance Report with John Stonestreet, president of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Stonestreet explains how a biblical worldview gives Christians a foundation for understanding history, culture and the difficult questions they encounter.

Bringing This Home: What Parents and Churches Can Do

Hamilton connects this directly to how the next generation is being raised.

He argues it isn’t enough for parents or churches to simply tell young people what to believe. They need to be equipped to understand why they believe it and to wrestle honestly with competing worldviews, particularly as those ideas begin confronting them in junior high and high school.

That, he says, is the difference between the “grammar stage” of early learning and the deeper, more dialectical engagement people need as they get older.

Sojourn’s trips, in Hamilton’s view, function less like classroom instruction and more like a demonstration — showing people what a mind shaped by deep historical and biblical literacy can look like, even if they weren’t raised with that kind of education themselves.

For Hamilton, knowing what you believe and understanding the history behind it go hand in hand. Christians shouldn’t be afraid of difficult questions. They should be prepared to engage them.

How to Get Involved

Sojourn runs both domestic and international trips, and Hamilton says the organization increasingly partners directly with churches, Christian schools and even groups of family and friends who want to build a custom trip together.

An upcoming trip retracing Paul and John’s journeys through Turkey is currently enrolling for February.

You can also reach Sojourn at info@leadwithsojourn.com or follow @LeadWithSojourn on Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Learn more about Family Policy Alliance and join us at familypolicyalliance.com.

Listen to The Family Policy Alliance Report

Take The Family Policy Alliance Report with you for more conversations about the issues affecting faith, family and freedom. Follow the podcast on your favorite platform:

Why Are People Forming Relationships With AI Chatbots?

Grayston sees the rise of AI companionship as part of a larger problem: America's loneliness epidemic.

People know something is missing. But instead of turning to a pastor, parent, spouse or friend, some are turning to artificial intelligence.

And at first, Grayston says, it can actually seem to work.

AI is always available. It responds immediately. It can be remarkably affirming. Someone who feels lonely may come away from a conversation with a chatbot feeling less alone.

The problem is what can happen next. Grayston points to data showing that the initial relief isn't sustainable and can give way to daily use and heavy dependence, which he says is associated with serious mental health concerns.

For Grayston, that makes this much more than a technology issue.

Why are people turning to AI for companionship? Why are they asking chatbots to help them find their purpose? Why are they relying on artificial intelligence for counseling or spiritual answers?

Those are questions he believes churches cannot afford to ignore.

Family Policy Alliance has also been raising concerns about the risks AI chatbots can pose to children, including bots engaging minors in inappropriate conversations and encouraging harmful behaviors.

When AI Becomes More Than a Tool

Grayston isn't anti-AI. He uses it himself and has heard plenty of stories about artificial intelligence making people's jobs easier and more efficient.

But there's a line between using AI as a tool and allowing AI to become a substitute for human relationships.

Grayston hears about people using AI for counseling. Parents have told him they're worried teenagers are replacing traditional relationships with what he calls "counterfeit relationships" and "counterfeit intimacy." Others have approached him with concerns about loved ones developing inappropriate relationships with companion bots.

AI also presents another challenge: it can sound remarkably confident even when it's wrong.

Grayston has encountered that himself when asking AI theological questions. For someone who is spiritually curious but doesn't have a pastor or trusted Christian community to turn to, an authoritative-sounding answer from a chatbot can be difficult to recognize as inaccurate.

His biblical argument goes even deeper.

In Genesis, God says it is not good for man to be alone. Grayston points to that as evidence of something fundamental about humanity: we were created to need other people.

No matter how human a chatbot sounds, he argues, it cannot replace the relationships, purpose and community God designed human beings to have.

What Can Parents Do About AI?

For parents, this isn't a problem to save for the future.

Grayston says elementary-age children are already encountering AI on devices, and parents shouldn't assume their children are too young to know about ChatGPT, companion bots or other AI tools.

His first advice is simple: have the conversation.

Ask what your children are using. Set clear boundaries about which platforms are appropriate. Consider where and how devices can be used. And don't assume your child has to have unrestricted access to a smartphone simply because everyone else does.

Grayston and his wife faced that pressure themselves. They decided their daughter couldn't have a phone until she was 13. At the time, he says, she thought they were the worst parents in the world.

Today, he doesn't regret it for a second.

But protecting children in a rapidly changing digital world can't fall on parents alone. As AI becomes embedded in the apps, platforms and devices children use, parents need to remain at the center of decisions affecting their children — and technology companies need to be held accountable when their products put kids at risk.

That's part of the broader work Family Policy Alliance is advancing through Let Parents Parent, which defends parents' God-given right to direct the upbringing, education and care of their children.

Grace also points in the interview to FPA Senior Fellow Melissa McKay's work on the App Store Accountability Act, which puts more control over children's app access back in parents' hands. FPA has previously covered how the policy shifts responsibility toward tech companies and strengthens parents' ability to protect their children online.

Family Policy Alliance is also working with partners to address emerging AI threats to children and equip families and Family Policy Councils to respond as the technology changes.

Read more about FPA's work to protect kids from the dangers of unregulated AI.

How Parents and Churches Can Respond to AI

Grayston's message isn't that Christians should fear artificial intelligence. It's that we need to recognize what technology can do — and what it can never do.

He wants more pastors, small-group leaders, children's ministry directors and others working with families to start having these conversations. The Alliance for Secure AI is developing resources for faith leaders and families through its faith initiative. 

And for individuals already struggling with AI dependence or relationships, Grayston's closing advice is equally practical: stay rooted in faith and community. Talk to your pastor, spouse, friends or family. Be willing to admit when something has crossed a line and allow people you trust to hold you accountable.

AI may be able to imitate human conversation. It cannot replace human connection.

Watch or listen to the full conversation to hear what Grayston is learning from families already confronting these questions — and why he believes parents and churches need to start talking about AI now.

Listen to The Family Policy Alliance Report

Take The Family Policy Alliance Report with you for more conversations about the issues affecting faith, family and freedom. Follow the podcast on your favorite platform:

Protecting Kids From Online Pornography: Why the SCREEN Act Matters

For today’s parents, protecting children from pornography no longer means simply keeping explicit magazines or movies out of the house. A smartphone can give a child access to sexually explicit content in seconds — often before a parent even realizes there is a problem.

Research cited by a coalition of family and policy organizations, including Family Policy Alliance, shows just how widespread that exposure has become: 54% of children age 13 and younger and 80% of teenagers ages 12 to 17 have been exposed to sexually explicit content. The average age of first exposure is now just 12.

That is one reason Family Policy Alliance is supporting the Shielding Children’s Retinas from Egregious Exposure on the Net (SCREEN) Act, federal legislation designed to keep minors from accessing commercial pornography websites.

What Would the SCREEN Act Do?

The SCREEN Act would require commercial pornography websites to verify that users are adults before allowing them to access sexually explicit material.

Importantly, the legislation does not prescribe a single method of age verification. Websites could use third-party verification services or develop their own systems that meet the law’s requirements. The legislation would also prohibit websites and verification providers from retaining or selling personal information collected during the verification process.

The principle is straightforward: If a business sells or distributes material that children are legally prohibited from accessing, the burden should not fall entirely on parents to keep children out.

That approach is already taking hold across the country. Twenty-seven states have enacted age-verification laws for pornography websites, and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Texas’ age-verification law in 2025.

These efforts are part of the larger work Family Policy Alliance is doing through our Let Parents Parent campaign to protect children and ensure parents have the tools and authority they need to raise their children.

What Happened to the SCREEN Act in the Senate?

The U.S. House passed substantially similar protections in June. In the Senate, the SCREEN Act came before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on Aug. 5.

The bill received majority support, 15–13, but it did not advance because the committee did not have the required number of members physically present. Four senators who supported the bill voted by proxy, and Senate committee rules do not allow proxy votes to count toward the quorum required to report a bill. As a result, the SCREEN Act will need another vote.

Family Policy Alliance joined other national organizations ahead of that vote in urging senators to support the legislation.

The Aug. 5 vote also drew national attention. The Daily Wire reported on the committee fight and Family Policy Alliance’s involvement, including the broader debate over whether age verification appropriately protects children while addressing privacy and free-speech concerns.

Giving Parents More Help Protecting Their Children

Parents have always been responsible for guiding what their children see and experience. But the internet has dramatically changed the scale of that job.

Pornography websites can reach children privately, instantly and on devices they carry everywhere. Age-verification laws create another layer of protection rather than expecting every family to fight that access alone.

That is why Family Policy Alliance and our network of state Family Policy Councils have worked to advance protections for children at the state level — and why the debate over the SCREEN Act matters nationally.

Parents should have the primary role in raising and protecting their children. Government and businesses should not make that job harder.