AI-OK? · AI Safety Resources for Kids & Parents
Helping families grow with AI and stay safe along the way.
AI is changing how children learn, create, connect, and explore. AI-OK? is a curated guide for busy parents who want to make thoughtful choices in an AI-powered world.
We curate the most useful resources, expert readings, emerging research, and practical insights on how families can use AI for learning and growth, while reducing risks to children’s privacy, wellbeing, and safety.
No hype. No panic. Just curated sources and best practices for raising confident, capable kids in the age of AI.
Find clear, age-aware guidance on:
- Using AI to support learning, creativity, and critical thinking
- Understanding privacy, misinformation, deepfakes, chatbots, and scams
- Talking with kids about AI without fear or lectures
- Recognizing risks from unsafe tools, harmful content, and bad actors
- Keeping up with emerging research and better practices, without having to read it all yourself
Guidance by age
Each stage brings different opportunities and risks. Choose your child’s age.
Pre-K
Smart speakers, connected toys and a first conversation about what AI is.
Go to Pre-K → Ages 6 to 10Elementary
Privacy basics, checking AI answers and using AI together.
Go to Elementary → Ages 11 to 13Middle School
AI companions, altered images and using AI to support, not replace, learning.
Go to Middle School → Ages 14 to 17High School
Online image threats, emotional reliance on chatbots and academic integrity.
Go to High School → Ages 17 to 18+Pre-College
College AI policies, scams aimed at young adults and lasting AI judgment.
Go to Pre-College →Three practical steps for this week
Each takes less than ten minutes.
1. Start a conversation
Ask: “Do you ever talk with AI chatbots? What do you talk about?” Listen first. This opener comes from a Brookings parent tip sheet[1].
2. Agree on a family safe word
AI can copy a voice from a few seconds of audio. Agree on a secret word to use in any “emergency” call, as the FBI has urged[2].
3. Review one privacy setting
In any AI app your child uses, turn off “help improve our model” (training on their chats), as Brookings recommends[3]. More settings →
AI is already in your child's day
In 2025, 91% of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 said they used generative AI in their personal lives, and more than half said they regularly talk to an AI “friend,” according to survey data compiled by Brookings[1].
The American Psychological Association[4] says AI is neither all good nor all bad. What matters is the specific tool, how it is designed and how kids use it. That's why AI-OK? covers the helpful uses as well as the risks.
Read this week's Good ReadsParents as co-learners
Harvard researcher Ying Xu, speaking with UNICEF USA[5], encourages parents to act as co-learners: explore AI with your child, follow their curiosity, and figure it out together. That approach guides everything on this site.
Popular guides
Is It AI-OK?
Green, yellow or red for ChatGPT, Gemini, Snapchat's My AI, Character.AI and more, by age.
Review a tool → ScriptsWhat to say
Printable conversation starters for every age, from what AI is to how to spot altered images.
View conversation guides → Help nowSomething happened?
Clear, step-by-step guidance for online threats, altered images, scam calls and concerning chatbot conversations.
View next steps → Plain EnglishSettings & vocab
Plain definitions of terms like “hallucination” and “AI companion,” plus the settings worth changing.
View the glossary → GamesPlay & Learn
Family activities and games that build privacy and critical-thinking habits.
Explore activities → FreeCommunities & trainings
Parent groups and free webinars, with who funds them clearly shown.
Explore communities →