Grammarly is Killing High School Grammar Skills

Like many other high school juniors, I recently began my preparation for the SAT. As I began to study the English section, I was stunned to realize how little I knew about grammar. One would assume that during my extensive years of English class, I would have learned something. I thought the same — I had always felt comfortable with my grammar skills. Why then, was it such a struggle to study for the SAT? The answer: Grammarly.

Grammarly, a popular typing assistant, uses an Artificial Intelligence system and deep learning algorithms to analyze millions of papers worldwide. Using this knowledge, Grammarly provides writing suggestions, such as clarity, tone, and most importantly, grammar.I won’t deny it, I love Grammarly. Since fourth grade, I’ve used Grammarly for pretty much anything involving writing. Essays, emails, speeches — you name it. Grammarly provided me with a sense of comfort. There was no need to stress over mistakes, Grammarly would be there. Just click “accept” and all my problems float away.

And it’s not just me. It seems like everyone else at school is using Grammarly too, and for the same reason: they want a sense of comfort. The feeling that someone is watching over them, paying careful attention to any mistakes. Why would anyone not want to use Grammarly?

The most obvious answer, the one that caused me to question my use of Grammarly, is standardized testing. These tests are built to evaluate knowledge, not your use of a browser extension. The sense of comfort has disappeared. Still, the majority of students continue to use Grammarly despite the repercussions on their test-taking: “Who cares? I can just study grammar extra to make up for what I don’t know.”

Fine, if testing isn’t enough incentive, think about it from a learning standpoint. According to Carnegie Mellon, learning key principles supports a deeper comprehension, aiding in the understanding of more complex concepts. That is to say, learning grammar will help students gain a deeper understanding of English, aiding in their writing proficiency and allowing them to engage in more critical thinking with the language. Additionally, Grammarly can damage students’ voices, providing generic, AI-driven responses, which strip away their uniqueness.

Another issue with Grammarly: its use of suggestions as opposed to automatic changes. Many students seem to believe that by accepting suggestions from Grammarly, they are somehow learning more about grammar. For the few people who take the time to read Grammarly’s suggestions and understand the reasoning behind them, it can indeed be helpful. However, for most other students, Grammarly offers little benefit in truly improving grammar knowledge. As a result, many students become overly dependent and unable to write correctly without the aid of Grammarly. In addition, many become overconfident in their skills, buying into the illusion that by accepting suggestions, they suddenly improve as writers.

So what can we do about this? It comes down to the teachers. There are two primary methods to prevent the use of tools like Grammarly: writing by hand and in-class writing (with a teacher serving as a proctor). My solution is “Grammar Check-ins,” in which teachers provide students with a prompt and force them to respond by hand and/or during class. By analyzing where students struggle, teachers can tailor their courses to address those gaps. This targeted approach not only improves students’ understanding of grammar but also helps them apply these rules effectively in writing.

Students, if you take one thing away from all of this, it’s that Grammarly is not your friend. True mastery comes from experience, not just a click. Get rid of Grammarly before it’s too late.