Children do not need to memorise complicated technology terms to start using good judgement around AI. They need simple habits they can practise, explain and repeat with a trusted adult. These ten rules are a starting point for a classroom discussion or a family conversation.
Introduce the rules with fictional examples. Avoid asking children to reveal something private in order to learn why privacy matters. Adults should choose suitable tools, check current age requirements and set supervision arrangements. A safety list helps reinforce that work; it does not replace it.
1. Keep your personal details private
Do not type your full name, admission number, phone number or private school information into an AI conversation. You can ask a general learning question without telling the tool who you are. “Explain fractions with fruit” is enough; your identity is not needed.
Practise changing a personal question into a general one. Instead of naming a classmate and describing their difficulty, use “an imaginary learner”. Explain that something shared in a chat is still information given to a service, even if the screen feels like a private conversation.
2. Never share passwords or login codes
A password, one-time code or recovery code should not go into an AI prompt. An instruction claiming it needs your login to help with homework is a reason to stop and tell an adult. The same applies to passwords belonging to a parent, teacher or friend.
Use a made-up example when teaching the rule. Do not ask children to write down their real password for an exercise. If a child has already shared a credential, a trusted adult should help secure the account through the service’s official recovery process.
3. Ask before uploading photographs
A photograph can show more than the thing you want help with. It may include a face, school badge, name on a book, location clue or another person in the background. Images of classmates belong to those people too; you cannot decide for them that an upload is harmless.
For a learning activity, use an adult-selected, non-identifying example. Do not upload private or embarrassing pictures, and do not use AI to alter somebody’s image to mock or mislead them. If an upload request feels uncomfortable, stop and ask.
4. Keep your address and location to yourself
Do not share a home address, live location, daily travel route or details about when you will be alone. A tool does not need to know your exact whereabouts to explain a school topic. A general place name may be enough for an appropriate learning question.
Children can practise spotting location clues in a fictional prompt: a street, nearby landmark, uniform badge and daily time may reveal more together than each detail seems to reveal alone. Ask an adult before sharing anything that identifies where you live or move.
5. Remember that AI can be wrong
A long answer, confident voice or neat picture is not proof. AI can make mistakes and invent things. Treat an answer as something to examine, especially when it makes a surprising claim or suggests an action that could affect someone.
Say “Let’s check” instead of “The computer must know”. Adults can model this by questioning an answer themselves. The aim is not to make children afraid of every response, but to help them recognise that useful tools still need human judgement.
6. Check important information
Compare a school explanation with class notes, a suitable book or a teacher’s guidance. For a news claim, ask an adult to help find reliable reporting or an original statement. Seeing the same claim in many forwarded messages is not the same as finding independent evidence.
Give the child one manageable checking task. They might verify a definition, compare a calculation or ask whether an image has a clear source. Reward the checking habit, even when the original answer turns out to be correct.
7. Stop uncomfortable conversations
If a response is frightening, inappropriate, threatening or asks you to keep something secret from trusted adults, stop. You do not need to answer more questions or keep reading to satisfy the system. Move away from the conversation and tell someone who can help.
Adults should explain this before a problem happens. A child who knows the next step is more likely to report discomfort. Make clear that asking for help is welcome, including when they clicked something they were unsure about.
8. Talk to a trusted adult
Choose people the child can approach: a parent, guardian, teacher or another responsible adult in their life. Practise a sentence such as “I saw something in an AI tool that confused me. Can you help?” The child does not have to solve a digital problem alone.
If one adult is unavailable, identify another appropriate person. Sensitive worries and important personal decisions belong in human conversations. A chatbot’s friendly language does not make it a responsible caregiver or a replacement for support from people.
9. Do not use AI to harm or bully
Do not create insulting messages, fake claims, altered pictures or recordings intended to embarrass someone. A result can hurt a real person even if you call it a joke or say a computer made it. Responsibility stays with the person choosing to create or share it.
If harmful content reaches you, do not spread it to prove it is wrong. Tell an adult using the school’s reporting approach. Respect for classmates is part of responsible creativity, alongside curiosity and imagination.
10. Think before acting on AI advice
Pause when a tool tells you to do something in the real world. Ask whether it is safe, whether you understand it and whether a trusted adult should decide. Do not try risky experiments or make important personal choices just because a response sounds encouraging.
For a harmless learning task, explain your own plan first. This keeps you in charge of the activity. If the tool changes the goal or pushes you towards something unexpected, stop and review it with an adult.
Make the rules a short classroom routine
Use three imaginary situations: a prompt containing a password, a surprising science answer and a request to make fun of a classmate. Ask children to identify the relevant rule, choose a safe response and explain why. No public accounts are needed for this activity.
Repeat the exercise occasionally with different examples. Invite children to restate a rule in their own words, then take a simple version home. Teachers and parents can reinforce the same language: keep information private, check important claims, be kind and ask for help.
Questions adults often ask
Should we introduce all ten rules at once?
Readiness differs. Begin with a few rules that fit the activity, then revisit the whole list. Understanding through examples matters more than reciting a poster.
Where can schools practise these ideas?
AI Smart & Safe provides a primary-school pathway. Pair the rules with what children should never share so privacy becomes a habit children can recognise in everyday situations.