As artificial intelligence becomes more common online, many parents are asking how to keep their children safe without raising them in fear.
Educators say the answer starts long before kids ever pick up a device.
Think about the world you grew up in as a kid. While the internet was introduced in 1983, it took decades to reach households.
Artificial intelligence has actually existed since 1950. What's different now isn't the technology, it's how quickly it's advancing and entering everyday life.
"The dopamine is a little, it's, it's a little, in my opinion, a little bit dangerous because we're feeding into a system that's not letting them pull away or analyze," said mother and A.I. consultant Monica Yorba. "So building up that analytical mind of what is reality, what is, you know, here for entertainment, what is, you know, a creative spark. I think that is a skill that is, it's actually more important these days.”
Children and students can see A.I. show up in the form of homework help, on social media, video games, or in online chats. That's why some families and educators are choosing to delay screen time.
"So it's kind of a really lovely way to, to just kind of slow down that march in progress that A.I. is bringing in and give these kids a chance to just develop who they are and really embrace childhood the way, you know, we got to do when we were kids," said Casey Farrell with the Central Coast Waldorf School.
The school takes a screen-free approach and then educates students on what's to come.
"As the kids start to age into like these upper grades and into middle school, we have a lovely cyber civics program, and that's when you kind of dive into the nuts and bolts of what's happening out there and what the internet looks like and how it was growing. And we look at digital citizenship and what it looks like to be a positive influence on the internet. And then we also move into, in that seventh and eighth grade moment, of informational and AI literacy,” Farrell said.
Their research shows giving kids time away from screens can help build attention spans, emotional awareness, and confidence.
"This constant, like, development of critical thinking, building curiosity, understanding content, not just memorizing it, but, like, wanting to learn it and want to understand why you're learning it, so kind of developing all these skills that come through all these very interesting ways so that by the time they're introduced to A.I., they have this incredible skill set that they can use to navigate it where they want to ask questions, they don't want to just digest what they're being told. And I think it's just a really important skill to be sending kids out into the world with right now," Farrell said.
Parents are also encouraged to keep conversations open at home.
If a child sees something confusing or upsetting online, experts say asking how it made them feel and why can help kids process content safely instead of internalizing it.
It’s something parents of students at other schools are on board with.
"You know, we want to create that critical mind that, hey, you know, this is information and here we have to look at other information. You can't just use ChatGPT as your only Wikipedia source. You know, we have to continue to encourage that critical mind thinking and writing," Yorba said.
Educators say helping kids build a strong moral compass, curiosity and confidence prepares them to navigate A.I., fake videos, and misleading content when they eventually encounter it.
Farrell says she doesn’t want parents making decisions regarding screentime based on fear.
"I don't want there to be, like, this fearful look at A.I. because I think then, then you start to make decisions that maybe you wouldn't have made. I think it's more like, hey, let's look at A.I. as like a blank field. What can we build here that makes us feel confident as parents?" Farrell said.
