Schools are falling behind as AI deepfakes target students and teachers

Harmful AI-generated images and videos are becoming a real school safety concern, but many educators don’t know whether their school has a plan to deal with them.

A new Education Week Research Center survey points to a concerning gap between the growing risk of deepfakes and the preparedness of schools.

Key takeaways

• One in three educators doesn’t know whether their school has a policy addressing harmful AI-generated images and videos
• Thirteen percent of educators don’t know what a deepfake is
• Another 22% said their school or district has no such policy
• One in four K–12 students know someone depicted in a nonconsensual, sexually explicit deepfake, according to research cited by Education Week
• Students need clear boundaries around AI, consent, and the consequences of creating or sharing harmful content
• Schools need practical response plans that protect the person targeted, stop further sharing, and give staff a clear route for reporting incidents

A preparedness gap schools can’t ignore

A nationwide survey of 852 educators conducted by the Education Week Research Center this summer found that one in three educators doesn’t know whether their school or district has a policy to address the potential threat to student safety from AI-generated fake images and videos.

A further 22% said their school or district has no such policy, while only 2% said one was being considered.

This matters because deepfakes are moving into school communities faster than policies and training are being developed to address them. These fake images, videos, or audio clips can make a student or teacher appear to say something offensive, engage in inappropriate behavior, or appear in sexually explicit content they never created.

And it doesn’t take advanced technical skills to manipulate this type of image or video. Plenty of AI tools let someone dop that easily and cheaply.

The survey also found that 13% of educators didn’t know what a deepfake is, while nine in 10 had not received training on how to spot or respond to one in the past two years.

This is not a distant or isolated problem

During cybersecurity workshops with students this year, I spent an hour in an open conversation about online safety, including scams, cyberbullying, and deepfakes.

After one presentation, a student asked if he could speak to me privately. He told me that another student had created highly inappropriate AI-generated images that were circulating among other students. He wanted to know what he could do.

My first question was whether his parents knew. They did.

That conversation stayed with me. It was a reminder that these incidents are not abstract examples from a report or a headline from another country. They can be taking place quietly inside school communities near us, while the young people affected are left trying to work out who they can safely speak to and what happens next.

The details of individual cases should always be handled carefully and with the privacy of those involved in mind. But one important lesson we can all learn is that young people need more than a warning that deepfakes exist. They need guidance on consent, empathy, responsible AI use, and how to get help when someone crosses a line.

The harm is real, even when the image is fake

According to 2024 research from the Center for Democracy and Technology, cited by Education Week, one in four K–12 students knows someone who has been depicted in a nonconsensual, sexually explicit deepfake.  

These incidents can be especially damaging to any student or staff member. A person may have no control over how their face or likeness is manipulated, shared, or discussed. They may then have to continue attending school alongside those involved.

That’s why it’s not enough to dismiss harmful content as a prank, a joke, or ordinary cyberbullying.

In the United States, the TAKE IT DOWN Act criminalizes certain intentional disclosures of nonconsensual intimate visual depictions, including qualifying deepfakes. It also requires covered platforms to provide a notice-and-removal process.

Prevention starts with plain language

Students should understand that using AI doesn’t make harmful behavior less serious.

Schools should say plainly that creating, altering, sharing, or threatening to share nonconsensual harmful images or videos of another person is unacceptable. They should also explain what happens when an incident is reported, who students can turn to, and what support the targeted person will receive.

The Education Week survey found that 56% of schools are most likely to inform parents when a student creates or distributes a harmful deepfake, while 48% cited suspension, 25% expulsion, and 33% restorative practices.

Consequences are important, but they can’t be the only part of the response plan. A response should also focus on limiting the spread of the material, supporting the person affected, documenting the incident safely, and involving the right safeguarding, platform-reporting, or legal channels where needed.

What schools need now

Schools don’t necessarily need to build an entirely new policy from scratch. They can update existing rules on bullying, harassment, safeguarding, and acceptable technology use to explicitly cover AI-generated content.

Every school should make sure students and staff know:

• What harmful AI-generated content can look like
• How to report it safely and confidentially
• Who will handle the report
• How the school will support the person targeted
• What steps will be taken to limit further sharing
• The consequences of creating or distributing nonconsensual content

Teachers also need practical training. They are often the first adults a student approaches, and they should never be left to improvise a response to such a sensitive incident.

Additional reading for parents and teachers

For families and educators who want to continue the conversation, these resources may help:

• Teen deepfake sexual abuse: AI involved in 1 in 4 Cases, study finds
• Deepfakes explained: how to spot them and avoid scams
• Is that video real? How to spot a deepfake before it fools you
• How to Talk AI and Deepfakes with Children
• From Sextortion to Ransomware: The Blackmail Scams Are Taking Over the Internet
• What to do if your child is being sextorted: A therapist’s guide for parents

A little extra help when a video does not feel right

AI makes it easier to create convincing fake videos, cloned voices, and misleading messages. Open conversations, clear school policies, and early reporting remain essential, but technology can also give families a helpful second opinion.

Bitdefender RealCheck can help analyze a suspicious video before it is trusted or shared. Parents and teachers can paste a public link from platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, or X, or upload a video from their device. RealCheck examines both visual and audio signals, including signs of manipulation, synthetic speech, and patterns commonly used to deceive viewers.

Bitdefender Scamio can also help families assess suspicious messages, links, screenshots, and social media posts.

Neither tool replaces support from a parent, teacher, school, or relevant authorities when a child is being targeted. But they can help people pause, ask questions, and avoid helping harmful or deceptive content spread further.