👋 friends!
Wow… just one week of school left. I admit I’m looking forward to the summer but with it also comes a lot of emotions and chaos as our routine gets upended. I share some ideas to help with that below.
But today’s newsletter is also an important one, in that I share some conversations we need to start having with our kids about AI. (Because right now, most of us are avoiding the topic all together). I hope you find it helpful, and don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or comments or reactions, I would really love to hear from you.
In today’s note:
Parenting in the AI era: four AI convos we need to be having with our kids
Connection spark: the calming and connective power of journaling
Hands-on with AI: summer schedule visualizer
The whoa zone: rain-making drones!
🤿 Let’s dive in…
Parenting in the AI Era
It’s time to start talking with our kids about AI
2 recent reports that study teen AI usage highlight an important insight: Parents are not talking to their kids about AI. And if they do, it tends to be about academic cheating, when in reality, there are several important aspects of AI usage to be checking in about regularly.
I get it… it’s very hard to talk to our kids about something we don’t totally understand - or know what about it we should even be discussing. But here’s the thing: kids don’t expect us to be AI experts - they just want us to be curious and engaged (ahem, not judgemental).
So here are 4 essential conversations to start having with your kids about AI (in a curious, open-minded, let’s explore this together way):
The “Co-pilot, not auto-pilot” conversation: more and more studies are showing that there is real risk of cognitive atrophy (and memory decline and and skill erosion) if we lazily toss things over to AI to “handle” for us. BUT, there are also studies that indicate that active engagement (editing, challenging AI) can mitigate these risks.
A couple talking points:
Your brain is a muscle… if you let AI do the lifting, your muscle shrinks
The goal is not to finish quicker, it’s to get smarter
Ask ourselves: am I using AI to skip the thinking, or to do better thinking?
A couple things to try:
Switch Claude/Gemini into ‘Guided Learning’ mode (an option in the tool selector below the prompt window) and use it that way together
Ask AI to explain something to you using a favorite hobby or sport analogy. Or by turning it into an infographic. Then ask it to quiz you.
The “AI is not your friend” conversation: over 70% of teens have used an AI companion, 50% more regularly. It’s crucial they understand that these are not real relationships. That AI is just a pattern machine designed to keep you engaged and tell you what it thinks you want to hear. (You can use the “pizza prompt” from an earlier newsletter to illustrate AI’s over-agreeability).
This is probably the most important one - and the trickiest, because there’s practically no way to prevent teens from using AI in this way given that pretty much every AI tool is designed to be friendly in its communication style.
So what becomes important is emphasizing the importance of having a trusted human in the loop for human stuff (feelings, friendships, social situations etc), and that it maters to be open about what AI tools we’re using (aka no secret AI companions). Regular check-ins. Side note on this one: the research also found that the single thing that protected young people most from risky AI use was when they had at least one relationship where they felt like they could be their authentic selves- where they felt safe and seen.
The “Seeing is no longer believing” conversation: AI can deepfake videos, audio, and photos so well now that even experts can’t always tell. Moreover, deepfakes (including nudes) are becoming much more of an issue in middle and high schools.
A few guiding thoughts:
Pressure means pause. If something feels urgent or surprising, that’s the moment to slow down
Default to fake: assume it’s not real until you’ve verified through other channels
Loop in a trusted adult. Don’t carry it alone
Last note on this one: make sure your kid knows that if they ever are the victim of a fake video or photo, it is NOT their fault and to come to you, you will always have their back and help them.
The “Digital street smarts” conversation: phishing, cyber attacks, account hacks, etc. are spiking like crazy and AI is getting so good that AI tools can crack over 85% of common passwords in under 10 seconds. We have to be “street-wise” online as much as offline.
Here are some basic/starter online safety tips:
Passwords + 2-factor: Long, hard, unique per site. Use a password manager/generator. 2-Factor for everything.
Caution with links: if a link feels off, even from a friend or your school, don’t click. You can hover to see the actual URL.
No PII: no personally identifiable information into AIs or online (address, school, birthday, phone, email, ssn, etc)
Family safe word: have a top secret family-only safe word. If a family member calls or texts to ask for something, ask for it.
Caution with AI agents: use agents with caution. Always supervise. They can be tricked by hidden messages online.
CONNECTION SPARK
The calming and connective power of journaling
This week I went on a walk with a close friend of mine. We’ve bonded through the fact that we both have kids who struggle with anxiety. On our walk, my friend shared that lately, her daughter has gotten really into journaling before bedtime - and that it has become a really helpful tool and outlet for her.
My first thought was “that’s great, but I have boys. No chance will they be into journaling.”
But coincidentally, that very evening I attended an “adult arts and crafts” night where the project was to decorate… journals. Um… ok, someone must be trying to tell me something. 😂
So, I went about decorating 3, one for each boy, with the assumption they’d say “hey thanks, but how come not football cards?” and then toss them aside.
But to my surprise, each boy (and especially my middle kiddo with anxiety) truly loved getting their journal and have kept them by their bedside ever since, often opting to write in them over/along with a bedtime story.
While I’m not sure how long their zest for journaling will last (I hope it does!), it was a really cool insight/experience for me and my boys that I wanted to pass along… with gratitude to my friend for the inspiration.
a sneak peak at my youngest’s first journal entry 🥹
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HANDS-ON WITH AI
Summer schedule visualizer
Holy cow… our kids only have one week of school left. And if my house is anything like yours, we need to get ready for the emotions and chaos of routine going out the window.
Something I’ve done that has helped a lot in the past is to create a “summer schedule” printout that they can look at and get a sense of what to expect for the day/week.
AI is super helpful with this type of thing - and you can honestly be as bare-bones/simple or as fancy as you like.
I went so far as to build a little app (using Replit) where I could select their camps for the week (with 3 boys in swimming, tennis, and sailing at different times it is a little nutty) and overlayed it onto our shared summer calendar:
Screenshots from my “Summer Scheduler” app
But you can also pop a visually fun one out each week quickly:
Create a fun, colorful weekly summer schedule visual for our family that our kids can easily understand at a glance. Make it a single-page artifact with each day of the week as its own clear section, showing morning, afternoon, and evening blocks. Use playful icons or emoji for each activity type (camps, swim, free play, screen time, meals, outings, quiet time, family events). Make free time and unstructured play visually prominent so kids see it's a real part of the day, not an afterthought. Bright, summery colors. Big enough text for early readers. Print-friendly layout. Ask me for the actual schedule details before generating.
THE WHOA ZONE
Make it rain
There was shockingly little snow in the Western US this year, and it’s worrying for longer-term drought. But a start-up may have figured out how to magically (aka commercially) make it rain! While it still needs peer review, they claim to have proved it’s cloud-seeding drones have generated 142 million gallons of water in the form of snow. If they’ve truly cracked the science on this one, it could be big.
Image source: Gemini
And that’s a wrap! If you've found this newsletter helpful, please forward it along to any friends and fellow parents who might also benefit (and especially this one, since I think the “important conversations to start having with our kids about AI” is, well, really important! … we’re all in this crazy together.
And, if you have any thoughts, feedback, or requests, please reply or drop a comment - I’d love to hear from you.
Glow on,
Michaela
Read some other recent Glow Notes below:
