The world our children are growing into is not the world I was prepared for, and that is exactly why I started FutureWise.

A Junior Achievement survey of 1,005 US teens ages 13 to 17 found that 61% say their school is doing a good job preparing them for a world changed by AI, yet 55% are still worried about AI and getting a job.

Both things are true at the same time, and I understand why. I graduated with strong grades and still struggled for years to find work, because school taught me subjects, not how to navigate the real world.

Here is what AI really changes: it raises the value of judgment, creativity, communication and problem solving, the things you build by doing, not by hearing about them.

The survey says the same: 87% of teens learn best when they can apply learning to real world situations.

Parents, try this at home this week: let your child use one AI tool to make something real, a story, a plan for a small project, a solution to a household problem, then talk about it together. What did you decide, what would you change, what did you learn? That conversation is where the real skill grows.

Don’t just prepare your child to graduate. Prepare them to navigate the real world. Next week, I’ll share 5 future-ready skills you can start building right at the dinner table.