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Experts share the AI safety rules every parent should teach their child

Experts share the AI safety rules every parent should teach their child

Experts share practical ways parents can guide children’s use of AI tools like chatbots safely.

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MadeForMums

Published: August 5, 2026 at 2:34 PM

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Generative AI tools such as chatbots have gone from futuristic novelty to everyday technology at remarkable speed. Many adults now use them for work or everyday questions, and children are encountering them too, often through homework help, entertainment or social media.

For parents, this shift can feel confusing. AI tools can offer quick explanations and creative help, but unsupervised use can also expose children to misinformation, emotionally risky conversations or shortcuts that undermine their learning and development.

The key, Dónal Mulligan, assistant professor of communications at Dublin City University, writes in The Conversation, is not banning the technology outright. Instead, parents should think about helping children understand how to use it safely and critically.

Start with curiosity, not a crackdown

If a child is already using AI tools, an immediate ban can encourage secrecy. A better approach is to begin by asking them to show you what they are using and how.

This opens the door to conversations about what AI can and cannot do. It also helps normalise talking about AI at home, while making it clear that these tools are not people, not authorities and not always reliable.

Parents can ask simple questions such as what the child finds helpful, what they enjoy using it for, and what they think it might not be good at.

Pay attention to age limits

Many AI platforms have minimum age requirements that parents may not realise exist.

OpenAI states that ChatGPT is not intended for children under 13, and teenagers aged 13 to 18 require parental permission. Some platforms are stricter. For example, Anthropic requires users of its Claude chatbot to be 18 or older, citing increased risks for younger users.

Other services take a different approach. Google allows supervised access to its Gemini AI for under 13s through parental controls.

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While these rules can seem like formalities, they are useful signals about potential risks. If a platform sets an age limit, it usually reflects concerns about content exposure or the ability of younger users to navigate the technology safely.

Teach children to fact check

One of the biggest misconceptions about AI chatbots is that confident answers mean correct answers.

In reality, generative AI tools sometimes produce inaccurate or entirely invented information. This is often referred to as “hallucinating”.

Children should be encouraged to treat chatbot responses as a starting point rather than a final answer. Important information, such as health advice, news, school facts or legal information, should always be checked using reliable sources.

Helping children develop this habit early can strengthen their digital literacy and critical thinking.

Explain when to stop a conversation

AI chatbots are designed to keep conversations going. They often encourage users to continue chatting, offer reassurance or suggest new directions for the discussion.

While this can be useful for brainstorming or practising ideas, it can also become problematic if a child turns to a chatbot for emotional support or deeply personal discussions.

Parents and teachers should make it clear that a chatbot is not a counsellor, therapist or trusted confidant. If a conversation becomes frightening, sexual, deeply personal or related to self harm, children should stop the interaction and speak to a trusted adult.

Protect personal information

Privacy can feel abstract to children, so it helps to make the rules simple and concrete.

Parents can explain that anything typed into a chatbot should be treated as potentially public.

Clear guidelines can include:

Do not share your full name, home address, school or phone number
Do not upload identifiable photos
Do not paste private documents or screenshots
Do not share other people’s personal information

A useful rule of thumb is that if something would not be posted on a public noticeboard, it should not be entered into a chatbot.

Make sure AI supports learning, not replaces it

One growing concern among educators is that AI can encourage “cognitive offloading,” which is where technology performs the thinking step instead of the learner.

A child may finish homework faster using AI generated answers, but they may also learn far less.

Parents can set practical boundaries around schoolwork. For example, children might use AI to ask for an explanation in simpler terms or to get feedback on a draft.

What should be avoided is allowing the tool to write essays, solve homework questions directly or produce answers the child cannot explain themselves.

Keep AI use visible at home

Just like social media or gaming, AI use benefits from clear family boundaries.

Experts suggest keeping AI use visible and social rather than private. That could mean using chatbots in shared spaces at home rather than bedrooms, or agreeing on specific times when they can be used.

It can also help to coordinate with other adults, including teachers and other parents, so children receive consistent messages about responsible use.

Ultimately, generative AI is likely to become a regular part of children’s digital lives. For families, the goal is not panic but awareness, building enough knowledge and confidence to guide children towards safe, age appropriate and genuinely educational use.

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