Key Takeaways
- Bakersfield parent Tela Herbert wants clearer AI safeguards in schools after her 7-year-old took a fake robbery video for real.
- Some Kern County school districts allow tools such as ChatGPT in the classroom, KERO 23ABC News reported.
- The Bakersfield City School District says students must follow its Responsible Use Policy when they use district technology.
- California's AI Transparency Act, SB 942, took effect Aug. 2, 2026, after a later bill, AB 853, pushed back its start date.
Tela Herbert's 7-year-old daughter watched a video online of a woman getting robbed. She thought it was real.
Now the Bakersfield mom wants clearer safeguards around artificial intelligence, particularly in schools, where some Kern County districts build computers into the curriculum and let kids use tools such as ChatGPT in the classroom, according to a March report by KERO 23ABC News.
"She looks at something it was a video and she was like oh mom this is so sad it was a lady getting robbed and you can tell as the gun had hit it was so fake," Herbert told the station.
Her daughter, My'Kayla Lewis, has autism, dyslexia and ADHD. Herbert said that can make it harder for the girl to tell what's real online from what isn't, and it's why she'd rather her daughter spend more time with books than with screens.
"Sometimes it can become diluted for her my thing is what are they being exposed to what if they can't tell real from fake and theres dangers out there?" Herbert said.
What comes home from school
Herbert's worry follows her daughter into the school day.
"When she comes home she's learning songs she's learning dances things that I don't allow her to have access to," she said.
She also said My'Kayla has picked up new phrases by using the tool. The second-grader-age girl explained it herself. "Sometimes you can access say if your friend says something and you don't know what language it is my friend told me something like callarse la boca that means shut your mouth," Lewis said.
According to the Bakersfield City School District, students must use district technology and digital tools in compliance with the Responsible Use Policy and all applicable school rules, board policies and administrative regulations.
What the state law does and doesn't catch
The station reported that concerns like Herbert's are part of why California lawmakers passed SB 942, the AI Transparency Act. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed it in September 2024. A follow-up bill, AB 853, signed in October 2025, moved its operative date to Aug. 2, 2026, according to legal summaries of the law. It applies to developers of generative AI systems with more than one million monthly visitors or users.
According to the station, one provision would require digital signatures on devices such as cameras and smartphones to help verify whether images are authentic. Another focuses on spotting AI-generated content by analyzing metadata, the file information attached to photos and videos.
Cybersecurity expert Matthew Smith said that approach has limits.
"The biggest problem with Meta Data is that it can be edited you can change it so if the meta data is supposed to say it was created by open AI or chatgpt and I'm someone who is making AI content look real or pass off as real I can edit that meta data to say it was produced by an I phone," Smith said.
Since metadata can be changed, Smith said, it may be hard to rely on it as proof that an image or video came from AI.
What parents are being told
Cybersecurity experts told the station parents should stay involved in how their kids use technology. That means setting boundaries at home and talking with teachers about how digital tools are used in the classroom.
Herbert isn't asking schools to keep the technology out.
"I understand that AI is important I understand that the world is changing however tools in one mind can definitely be a weapon in someone else's," she said.
Central Valley AI is produced by the CVAI Education Desk team and developed by Kaweah Tech, a regional firm that builds, deploys, and integrates AI solutions for businesses across California's Central Valley.