AI helps with homework and fills loneliness. What happens to children behind its convenience?

Ask about parts of homework you don't understand. Converse with your favorite character. Confide in them about concerns that are hard to share with friends.

The AI on the other side of the screen can respond in various situations. While it may appear to adults as a convenient tool for searching and work, for children, it can become a learning partner, a playmate, and a source of comfort.

Is child protection keeping up with this change?

According to an article by dts News published in BUSINESS-PANORAMA on October 4, 2026, child support organizations SOS-Kinderdörfer weltweit and Terre des Hommes have highlighted the dangers and possibilities of AI surrounding children and youth through joint research. The article reports on coverage by Germany's RND news network.

The concern of both organizations lies in the fact that AI has already infiltrated education, social media, search engines, entertainment, and creative tools, with children interacting with AI before they even recognize it as such.

This is a question that also applies to households and schools in Japan.

Convenience and Risks Emerge from the Same Functionality

The advantages and disadvantages of AI are not always neatly separable.

For example, the ability to tailor explanations to the audience can aid in understanding complex topics. However, if incorrect explanations are presented in a convincing manner, it becomes difficult to discern the errors.

The mechanism of learning preferences increases encounters with works and educational materials that match one's interests. However, if only similar information is received, it may limit opportunities to encounter different perspectives.

The conversational function that responds attentively to concerns is similar. While it can prompt one to articulate their feelings, it can also make it difficult to detach from that interaction.

The joint research highlights a structure where personalized responses, creativity, and ease of use are linked to the dangers of misinformation, bias, dependency, and commercial exploitation.

However, the original article does not specify the number of participants or detailed methods of the research. This warning cannot be directly interpreted as a numerical conclusion about what percentage of children using AI will be affected.

What Can't Be Understood by "Using It for a Long Time"

When considering children's digital use, the topic that often comes up at home is usage time.

However, even with the same 30 minutes, the points to watch differ between time spent practicing English conversation and time repeatedly seeking AI's judgment on one's self-worth.

What's important is not only what they are doing but also how that experience connects to their daily life.

They may want to share what they've learned with their family or get ideas for creative projects and start making their own works. Such uses exist alongside those where conversations can't be cut short, delaying sleep, homework, and commitments with friends.

Moreover, human-like responses do not guarantee the correctness of the content or that the counterpart bears the same responsibility as a human. A perspective that separates familiarity from reliability is necessary.

The Confusion of Both Guardians and Users Seen on Social Media

In related discussions on social media, concerns about the distance with AI are already being expressed.

What is introduced here is not a direct reaction to the current German report but past public posts about children and AI chatbots. Due to the anonymity of the posts, the age and authenticity of the experiences cannot be independently verified, nor do they indicate a trend for society as a whole.

In Reddit's parenting community, a guardian posted about blocking the site after discovering their child using Character.AI, expressing confusion over their child's first romantic or sexual interactions being with a bot.

This reflects concerns not just about exposure to harmful images or words, but about the role AI relationships play during a time when children are learning about human relationships.

On the other hand, in the Character.AI user community, there are self-reported posts from users who started using it around ages 12-13, using it during school, at home, and while conversing with people, for 2-6 hours a day, expressing strong dependency on its use.

In another parenting-related community, there were comments recommending first asking children if they use chatbots and expressing concern about the very relationship where they might not be honest.

What can be read from these voices is the simultaneous need for restrictions and maintaining a relationship where consultation is possible.

From Support to Overuse, as Discussed in Research

Experiences shared on social media are also subjects of research.

The study "Understanding Teen Overreliance on AI Companion Chatbots Through Self-Reported Reddit Narratives," published on arXiv, analyzes 318 Reddit posts by users who self-reported as being aged 13-17.

The analysis reports cases where use that began as emotional support or creative play deepened into strong attachment, with adverse effects on sleep, academics, and real human relationships.

However, this is an analysis of self-reported posts in a specific community and does not determine the incidence rate or causal relationship between AI use and problems for the general child population.

Nonetheless, it cannot be overlooked that there are cases where children themselves recognize and struggle with overuse as a problem. It is not a simple structure where adults worry while the children themselves are unconcerned.

In Japanese Schools, From "Can Use" to "Can Verify"

In Japan, the foundation for learning how to interact with AI is being laid out.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's guidelines for schools, Ver. 2.0, published in December 2024, emphasize human-centered use, considering AI output as one reference, and ultimately prioritizing human judgment.

For the use by children and students, considerations for developmental stages, terms of use, personal information, and guidance and supervision by teachers are required. The idea that using AI itself is not the goal of education is also presented.

If this perspective is to be incorporated into lessons, efforts can be made to go beyond simply having AI quickly provide answers.

For example, cross-referencing AI explanations with textbooks, checking if the provided evidence exists, finding differences in multiple explanations, and explaining in one's own words which one was adopted.

The aim of such learning is not only to become familiar with operating AI but also to develop the ability to evaluate outputs and make independent judgments.

At Home, Look at Both Usage Time and "Content of Consultation"

Dialogue at home can also be expanded beyond just checking usage time.

In addition to asking "How many hours did you use it?" try asking "What was convenient about it?" "Did it give any strange answers?" "Who else could you consult if you were in trouble?"

The key here is to understand what children are seeking from AI. Whether it's a study aid, a way to pass the time, or a place to talk freely, the necessary response will vary.

As family rules, the following items can be considered:

• Check the age and conditions for use and do not register with a false age.
• Do not easily input personal information like your name, friends' names, photos, or school names.
• Do not take answers at face value; verify important matters with other information or trusted adults.
• Reflect together on whether it is affecting sleep, meals, or school life.
• Ensure that if they encounter unpleasant responses or scary content, they can stop using it and consult someone.

Forcing them to show all conversations does not necessarily lead to honest consultation. Depending on age and situation, it's necessary to discuss what to monitor and what to respect as personal privacy.

Don't Make Safety Solely the Responsibility of Families

On the other hand, there are limits to leaving countermeasures solely to the efforts of guardians and teachers.

According to the original article, Joshua Hofeldt of Terre des Hommes advocates for "Safety by Design," incorporating child protection from the development stage, effective age verification, and children's participation in rule-making around AI.

This approach involves rethinking the design of services, not just adding warnings after problems arise.

To concretize this idea, issues such as child-appropriate default settings, easy-to-understand reporting methods, mechanisms to limit personal information collection, and designs that do not encourage excessive use need to be considered.

Regarding age verification, collecting more personal information than necessary for protection could create other issues. It is necessary to consider safety and privacy simultaneously.

Furthermore, the participation of children themselves is meaningful. Features that seem like mere entertainment to adults may be an important support for the children themselves. Conversely, mechanisms that adults consider educational might be perceived by children as difficult or frightening to use.

After Using AI, Is the Child's World Expanding?

AI has the potential to aid understanding, spark creativity, and lower barriers to accessing information.

To harness this potential, it's important to include children's lives in the evaluation of convenience.

After using it, is there more room for independent thinking? Has it created opportunities to converse with others? Can they comfortably close the screen and move on to other activities?

The warning posed to Japan is whether the support systems for children are being given as much attention as the speed at which AI is being introduced into homes and schools.

When children face difficulties with AI, there should be someone outside the screen they can consult. It is necessary to maintain that relationship while ensuring safe services and learning opportunities.

Source URL

1. BUSINESS-PANORAMA/dts News:
   Joint research by SOS-Kinderdörfer weltweit and Terre des Hommes, and statements from both organizations. The research's original survey methods and participant numbers are unconfirmed.
   https://business-panorama.de/news.php?newsid=6713511

2. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology: Overview of School Guidelines for Generative AI Ver. 2.0.
   Source for explanations regarding human-centered use, consideration for developmental stages, personal information protection, and teacher supervision in Japan's educational settings. mext.go.jp
   https://www.mext.go.jp/content/20241226-mxt_shuukyo02-000030823_003.pdf

3. Reddit - r/Parenting: "AI Chatbots."
   Public post by a guardian concerned about romantic or sexual interactions between children and chatbots. Summary based on the range of search results obtained. reddit.com
   https://www.reddit.com/r/Parenting/comments/1hmw0ar/

4. Reddit - r/CharacterAI: "Minors Get Addicted."
   Self-reported posts about early and prolonged use and difficulty quitting. Summary based on the range of search results obtained. reddit.com
   https://www.reddit.com/r/CharacterAI/comments/1gg4v39/

5. Reddit - r/ParentingTech: "Tween and chatbots."
   Source for comments emphasizing asking children about their usage and the importance of honest dialogue between parents and children. Summary based on the range of search results obtained. reddit.com
   https://www.reddit.com/r/ParentingTech/comments/1ouqyxb/

6. arXiv: Study analyzing overreliance on AI companions by youth through self-reported Reddit posts.
   Description of the analysis of 318 posts is based on the public abstract. It is not a survey measuring the dependency rate of the general child population. arxiv.org
   https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.15783