Safeguarding
Child safety and non-discrimination
These commitments are published before enrollment opens so families, sponsors, and regulators can hold us to them from the start.
Non-discrimination statement
Socratic Guides AI Academy admits students and engages guides, musicians, and staff without regard to race, color, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, sex, disability, religion, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal or Tennessee law. The same rule governs admissions, financial support, program access, and employment.
Ideas are argued here without deference; people are not. A guide who cannot hold that distinction is not a guide here.
Adults around students
- Background checks for every adult with student contact, repeated on a fixed schedule.
- Reference checks and a documented interview, including how the candidate handles disagreement with a young person.
- No unobserved one-to-one sessions: rooms are visible, doors stay open, outdoor blocks are supervised by at least two adults.
- Visiting musicians and contractors are accompanied at all times and are not left responsible for students.
- Written conduct standards covering physical contact, transport, photography, and private messaging — private adult-to-student messaging is prohibited.
The AI companion and minors
- A human guide is present for AI-assisted work. The AI is never the supervising adult.
- The companion is configured to withhold conclusions and to refuse content outside the academic task.
- Sessions are logged. Families may review their own student's transcripts on request.
- Student personal data is not used to train external models.
- Specific vendors, configuration, and retention terms will be published before any student session runs.
Reporting and response
- Any adult here who suspects abuse or neglect reports it to the Tennessee Department of Children's Services, as Tennessee law requires of every citizen.
- Concerns about an adult's conduct can be raised directly with the founder, and an adult is removed from student contact while a concern is reviewed.
- Families are told about any incident involving their student, in writing, without delay.
- Retaliation against anyone who raises a concern in good faith is grounds for removal.
If a child is in immediate danger, call 911. To report a concern to us directly, write to hello@socraticguides.com.
Status
These are commitments of a program in formation, not a report on an operating school. As Tennessee regulatory review proceeds, this page will be updated to reflect the requirements that apply, and the changes will be logged on the transparency page.