The Parent’s AI-Tools Safety & Permission Checklist
Your kid wants to build with AI tools, and that’s a good instinct. But most AI coding tools were written for adults, and their age rules, billing, and privacy settings are buried in terms of service nobody reads. This one-page checklist covers what to check before sign-up, how to set accounts up safely, and the ten-minute weekly routine that keeps you in the loop. Print it, stick it near the computer, and work through it together. The “together” part is most of the value.
Parent’s AI Safety & Permission Checklistredwoodacademy.ai
1 · Before signing anything up
Check the tool's minimum age in its Terms of Service, not the app store rating.
Most AI tools are 13+ or 18+. See our age-requirements directory for the current rules.
Decide whose account it is: yours (you log them in) or theirs (where the terms allow).
Read the pricing page together. Know exactly what's free and what triggers a charge.
If a tool needs a payment card or API key, it's yours. Never store it on their device unsupervised.
2 · Account setup
Sign up with a family or parent email address, not their school email.
Turn on two-factor authentication on every account.
Set spending limits or alerts wherever the tool supports them.
Review the tool's data-training settings and opt out of training on your data where offered.
3 · Ground rules to agree on together
Never paste personal details into an AI tool: full name, address, school, phone, photos of people.
A good test: 'would you write it on a public poster?'
Project names and published apps use a first name or nickname only.
No entering other people's information either. Friends' names stay out of the code and the prompts.
If the AI produces something confusing, scary, or inappropriate, screenshot it and show a parent. No trouble for reporting.
4 · The weekly check-in (10 minutes)
Ask for a demo: “show me what you built this week.”
Ask them to explain one piece: “what does this part do?” Explaining is where the learning shows.
Ask what the AI got wrong this week and how they caught it.
Glance at usage/billing dashboards once a week.
5 · Red flags worth acting on
Secretive about accounts, or new accounts you didn't set up together.
Charges you don't recognize, or credits running out unusually fast.
Copy-pasting AI output they can't explain at all. That's the moment to slow down, not a catastrophe.
Our family’s agreement
We reviewed this together on: ____________________
Signed (builder): ____________________ Signed (parent): ____________________
Want the age rules for every major tool? See our verified directory: AI coding tools: age requirements for kids & teens.