July 14, 2026 · 6 min read
How to tell if an AI tool is safe for your child
Five questions a parent can ask in under ten minutes to judge whether a children's AI app is genuinely safe — before your child ever opens it.
Most "AI for kids" apps look reassuring on the download page. The difference between a safe one and a risky one is rarely visible in the screenshots — it shows up in how the product is put together. These five questions surface it quickly.
1. Is there a blank chat box anywhere?
An open text prompt is the single biggest risk surface in a children's app. Guided, visual choices — pick a theme, pick a style, pick a character — keep the creative range wide while keeping the model's input predictable.
2. Who owns the account?
A child should never hold their own credentials. Look for a parent-owned account with child profiles inside it, and a way to hand the device over without handing over the settings.
3. What happens to a blocked result?
Safety filters fire sometimes — that's the point of them. What matters is what the child sees. A well-built app says "let's try that a different way." A poorly built one shows a raw policy error and makes a seven-year-old feel like they did something wrong.
4. Is anything public by default?
Feeds, leaderboards, profiles, and direct messages are the features that turn a creative tool into a social network. Private by default, with sharing that only a parent can start, is the standard to hold out for.
5. Can you delete it all?
- A clear, self-serve deletion path — not an email request form.
- A stated retention window for uploads and generated images.
- A named list of the services the data passes through.
How Sketchlings answers these
No chat box, no public profiles, a parent-owned account with per-action permissions, and child-safe wording on every blocked result. You can read the details on our safety page.