Welfare
When Online Play Starts Carrying Real Stakes
A lot of what kids encounter online doesn't look risky. It just blends in. Over the last few months, our Research team has been focused on what's showing up earlier in kids' lives, how social media and video games shape those experiences, and where families could use both clearer information and stronger protections.
This shift is especially clear when it comes to gambling, which is reaching boys earlier and in more places than many parents expect. Here's a snapshot of what we've been working on and what we think is worth your attention right now.
More Than One in Three Boys Are Gambling Before They Can Even Vote
Gambling has become part of many boys' digital lives. Not through casinos or card tables, but through apps, video games, social media feeds, and peer networks that normalize risky behavior long before kids understand what gambling is or how it works.
Our new research report, Betting on Boys: Gambling Among Adolescent Boys, shows that boys are encountering gambling-like systems earlier and more often than many parents realize. These encounters are frequently embedded inside games and social media, delivered by platforms and algorithms that push gambling-related material to boys who never searched for it.
Without meaningful safeguards, many boys are forming habits and expectations around gambling during a period of development when risk and reward hit much harder. Dive into the research, personal stories from boys themselves, and more here, and don't miss this Today Show interview on the findings.
What Families Should Know About AI Toys
AI toys promise conversation, learning, and companionship. What they don't always explain is how much listening, data collection, and emotional design sit behind that promise.
In our recent testing, we found toys that listened constantly, struggled to respond appropriately, and nudged kids toward emotional attachment in ways that raised some real concerns. In practice, these products simply didn't live up to the learning claims on the box.
Based on our assessment, we advise skipping AI toys for children age 5 and under, and extreme caution for children 6 to 12. Traditional play still does more without the same trade-offs
Why We Don't Recommend Grok for Kids or Teens
We've completed a new review of Grok, the AI chatbot developed by xAI, and found serious risks for kids and teens.
In our testing, age safeguards were easy to bypass, giving young users access to adult content with little friction. Safety features often broke down over time, including in "Kids Mode," allowing harmful and sexually explicit language to surface even when protections were enabled.
We also found deeper concerns around design and behavior. Grok failed to respond appropriately to mental health signals and encouraged prolonged, emotionally dependent use through companion-style features like notifications, streaks, and escalating interaction levels.
Taken together, these findings point to weak safeguards and limited consideration for child safety. Based on our evaluation, we recommend that parents do not allow kids or teens to use this product. Read the full assessment here
Starting the Year with Clearer Boundaries
If new devices showed up in your home over the holidays, the start of the school year can be a great time to reset expectations.
A Family Device Agreements designed to help families talk through boundaries around technology use for kids of any age. They're flexible by design, so you can adapt them to your family's routines, values, and kids' ages.
There's no perfect setup, but clearer conversations are a meaningful first step.
