Start here
The free tool below runs entirely in this browser — no account, nothing stored or transmitted. Redact anything you would not want kept before you type it.
Open the companion tool →Why calm beats alarm
A child's AI use is often curiosity, homework help, or boredom — not a red flag. Treating every sign as a warning makes the child hide their use instead of talking about it, which is the one outcome that makes everything harder to see.
The useful read is age-banded and specific: what is ordinary at each age, and which patterns — withdrawal, secrecy, replacing friends — deserve a conversation rather than a conclusion.
The protocol
- Pick the age band and mark only what you have actually noticed, not what you fear.
- Read the pattern guide: which items are ordinary at this age, and which deserve a conversation.
- Open with the suggested first sentence — ask, do not accuse.
- If something serious surfaced, talk to a pediatrician or school counselor; do not go it alone.
What the tool does
Select an age band and what you have noticed, and get a calm read with a conversation opener. It runs in this browser; nothing is sent or stored.
Limit first: This is a conversation guide, not a diagnosis and not a parenting verdict. It cannot tell you whether your child has a problem. If something feels serious, involve a pediatrician or counselor.
Open the companion tool →One human next step
Open the conversation with the suggested sentence. If a pattern involves withdrawal or self-harm signals, involve a pediatrician or counselor and the 988 line.
Research log and safety checks
AI-assist path: not applicable — a parent's read of their own child should stay in the parent's judgment; an AI-generated verdict about a specific child would be both opaque and inappropriate. §6.10: not a frontier-pace topic.
§0.5 protection result: category is chatbot-dependency-check; crisis-adjacent: no; fear/urgency/scarcity toolkit used: no. The protective function is free and the paid feature is convenience only.