The blog
Straight answers for parents, one question at a time.
I write these the way I answer parents after a school talk: the short answer first, then why, then what to do tonight. Every piece is dated, and app guides say when I last checked the facts.
Latest · 29 October 2026
How to teach kids critical thinking skills (with AI in the room)
Ask better questions than you answer, and make checking a habit. Here is how to build both at the kitchen table, with real questions to use at each age and a three-step rule for everything an AI tells your child.
Read it, 9 min →Safety and apps
Is this app safe for my child? Straight answers, by age, checked and dated.
26 October 2026 · 9 min
Is Google Gemini safe for kids?
About as safe as ChatGPT, with the same habits, and under 13 only through a Family Link account you switch on yourself. The rules by account type, the three risks that do not change, what I allow at each age, and the Family Link steps.
22 October 2026 · 12 min
Nudify apps and deepfakes: the conversation to have before it happens
Have the emergency conversation tonight, before anything happens, and teach the rule that nothing goes online you would not show a stranger. What the tools do, the numbers, how to spot a fake, and exactly what to do if it happens to your child.
15 October 2026 · 12 min
AI friend apps and teens: Replika, companions and the loneliness problem
Usually the app is a symptom, not the cause: a teenager who leans on an AI friend is telling you something about their real friendships. What the apps promise, their age rules, the red flags, and the conversation to have first.
8 October 2026 · 9 min
Snapchat's My AI: what parents should know
My AI is a chatbot pinned near the top of your child's Snapchat chat list, and if your child is on Snapchat they almost certainly have it. What it is, what it keeps, and the ten-minute check to do on your child's phone tonight.
1 October 2026 · 9 min
ChatGPT age limit: what the rules say, and what to do if your child is under 13
OpenAI's line is 13, with a parent's consent until 18, so an under-13 uses ChatGPT with you, on your account, or not at all. What the age rule does and does not protect against, and the rule at home that matters more.
14 September 2026 · 9 min
Is Character.AI safe for kids? What changed, and what to watch now
Under-18s can no longer chat with characters on Character.AI. That solves less than you would hope. Here is what the app allows now, what teenagers do instead, and what I would do tonight.
14 September 2026 · 9 min
Is ChatGPT safe for kids? What I allow at each age
Safe enough to use with a parent from about nine and alone from the teens, if it helps your child think rather than thinks for them. The rules I use at home, by age, and the parental controls worth ten minutes tonight.
13 September 2026 · 7 min
Is AI bad for kids? What the research actually shows
Unguided AI is bad for children. Guided AI is one of the best learning tools we have ever had. The variable is not the technology; it is which loop your family lives in.
Homework and school
ChatGPT, cheating, teachers and the rules that turn AI into a thinking tool.
19 October 2026 · 9 min
AI in schools: the pros and cons a parent can actually act on
The school's policy matters less than your child's habits, but you should still ask. Here is what the evidence supports, what the real risks are, the questions to put to your school, and the email that opens the conversation.
12 October 2026 · 9 min
AI homework help that does not do the homework
The useful prompts are quiz me, explain it another way, find my weakest argument, and check my working without giving me the answer. Here are the exact words a child can type, by subject, plus the two rules that keep it honest.
5 October 2026 · 9 min
How do teachers know if you used ChatGPT? What to tell your kids
Not mainly by software. Teachers notice because the writing does not sound like your child, because the errors are strange, and because they ask the child to explain it. Here is what that means for your family.
28 September 2026 · 5 min
The V.E.T. rule: teach your child to check what AI tells them
AI is confidently wrong often enough that a child who does not check will be caught out. Three letters, Verify, Explain, Transform, turn every AI answer into a starting point instead of a finish line.
21 September 2026 · 6 min
Is using AI cheating? A parent's answer, by age
Copying an answer is cheating, whether it came from a friend, a website or an AI. Using AI to understand something is not. Here is how to draw the line so your child can draw it too, at 8, at 12 and at 16.
17 September 2026 · 6 min
Should your child use ChatGPT for homework? The 20-Minute Rule
Yes, after twenty minutes of trying alone, and only to help them understand, never to hand them the answer. The one household rule that turns AI from a shortcut into a thinking tool.
The five skills
Resilience, curiosity, adaptability, systems thinking and empathy, built at home.
The future and family rules
Jobs, screens, agreements and the long view.
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