AI Literacy by Age

AI Literacy by Age: What to Expect From a 6-Year-Old to a 16-Year-Old

An age-band matrix — around 6, 10, 13, and 16 — for what a child can understand about AI, how much supervision they need, and where the real product age limits are, without pretending any age is a fixed cutoff.

8 min read

A Child's First AI Conversation: A Facilitator's Script

A step-by-step script for a child's first supervised AI conversation, built around a false-answer test, a source check, a privacy pause, and a closing reflection — run on a caregiver-controlled account.

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AI Homework Help vs. Cheating: A Decision Tree by Learning Objective

A decision tree for deciding when AI use on homework is legitimate practice help and when it substitutes for the learning the assignment is meant to assess — plus why school rules control, not a household preference.

Using AI to Support a Neurodivergent Learner, Without Diagnosing Anyone

A five-step way to adapt format and pacing for a neurodivergent child using AI — barrier, preserved outcome, adaptation, learner feedback, stop rule — built around involving the learner, not diagnosing them.

9 min read

If a Child Is the Target of an AI Deepfake: A First-Response Plan

What to do in the first hours if a child has been targeted by an AI-generated image or video: preserve evidence the right way, reduce spread, involve the child, and notify the platform, school, or authorities — without ever downloading or forwarding illegal content.

Is This AI Product Safe for My Child's Data? A Privacy Checklist

A seven-point checklist — age rules, collection, retention, training use, sharing, controls, and deletion — for deciding whether an AI product gets allow, allow-with-controls, or do-not-use for your child.

Your Child and AI: Watch the Relationship, Not Just the Clock

Minutes-per-day is the wrong first question for a child's AI use. An observation guide across activity, attachment, displacement, secrecy, and recovery gives a clearer picture — without diagnosing addiction from a chat.

Do Not Give a Child an AI Friend: The Red Flags and What to Do Instead

A plain stance and seven concrete red flags — anthropomorphism, secrecy, dependency, sexual content, monetization, memory, and exit friction — for why AI companion apps are not appropriate for children, plus a calm way to raise it.

Write a Family AI Agreement Your Kids Actually Helped Write

A seven-clause household AI agreement — accounts, private data, schoolwork, companions, creation, purchases, and help-seeking — built with the child in the room, not handed to them finished.

8 min read

Raise Children Who Remain Authors of Their Own Lives

App-level screen time rules answer 'how much AI.' They do not answer the harder question: which of the choosing, deciding, creating, and relating that childhood is for should stay a child's own, even as AI becomes ambient in homework, friendship apps, and games. A practice framework across six domains gives families and schools a decision rule, not just a time limit.

Intermediate

Talking to Teenagers About AI: A Two-Way Conversation, Not an Inspection

A listen-first conversation guide for talking with a teenager about their AI use — shared uncertainties, real boundaries, and a set revisit date, without leaning on surveillance to justify the questions.

4 minutes

Video

Using AI Wisely for School Success

Common Sense Education. Common Sense Education's short explainer draws a line close to the article's: AI as a study aid versus AI as a shortcut that skips learning.

57 minutes

Video

Friend or Foe? Living with and Learning from Artificial Intelligence

Common Sense Media. Common Sense Media's own panel directly weighs the risks of AI companions for kids, reinforcing the article's caution against AI 'friends.'

5 minutes

Video

Talking to Kids About AI: Privacy, Fairness, and Responsibility

Common Sense Education. A direct, age-appropriate framework for discussing AI privacy and responsibility with kids and teens, matching the article's conversation guide.

Your AI agrees with you too much: four thinking-partner failures

AI can help you examine a decision, but it also inherits your framing, rewards confident prose, and quietly encourages you to outsource judgement. Here is how to catch each failure.

Spaced practice, retrieval, and interleaving—with AI doing the right work

Build a practical study system around three evidence-backed learning techniques, two of them strongly supported and one more tentative. AI prepares questions and feedback; you perform the retrieval and make the distinctions.

Why AI explanations feel like learning—and often aren't

A fluent explanation can make a subject feel familiar before you can actually use it. These three tests reveal whether AI helped you learn or merely helped you follow along.

What not to delegate to AI: draw your personal line

Use a practical boundary test to keep accountability, relationships, and important skills in human hands while still getting useful AI assistance.