Screen Time, Safety & Privacy.

Not all screen time is equal — and AI proves it.

The old "two hours of screen time" rule was designed for passive consumption — watching TV, scrolling social media. But a kid using AI to learn coding, write stories, or explore science isn't doing the same thing as a kid watching TikTok for three hours.

This doesn't mean AI gets unlimited time. It means you need a more nuanced framework:

• Passive consumption (watching, scrolling) — limit this aggressively.
• Active creation (using AI to build, write, code, create) — more flexible, but still needs boundaries.
• Interactive learning (AI tutoring, language practice) — most flexible, but watch for fatigue.

What AI tools know about your kid.

Every conversation your child has with an AI tool is potentially stored, analyzed, and used to train future models. That's not a scare tactic — it's the business model. Here's what typically gets collected:

• Conversation content: Everything they type or say. Full transcripts.
• Usage patterns: When they use it, how often, what topics they explore.
• Device information: Location, device type, browser, IP address.
• Account details: Email, name, age (if they provided it truthfully).

For kids under 13, COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act) requires parental consent before collecting personal data. But enforcement is imperfect, and many kids use adult accounts or lie about their age.