Free tool  ·  Ages 4 to 12

Family AI Agreement Builder

A family AI agreement is a short page of rules for AI, homework, and screens that parents and kids write and sign together. This free builder produces a printable one to two page version for kids ages 4 to 12: a family line, five house norms, homework zones by age, device rules, and signatures.

A family technology agreement (sometimes called a screen time contract) is a written, dated set of house rules for screens and AI tools that parents and kids agree to, sign, and review together.

Last reviewed:

Every default below comes from the guide Your Kid Found ChatGPT. Now What? The guide calls these rules house norms, and this agreement combines its printable References B (the one-line family rule), C (house norms), and J (the first-device agreement), with the homework zones from Reference D. Keep a line, edit it until it sounds like your family, or switch it off. The preview updates as you type.

Jump to the preview ↓

Step 1 of 6

Your family

Each kid's age decides which homework zones and defaults appear. Names are optional; they only print on your copy.

Prints as "The Nguyen Family AI Agreement." Leave it blank for "Our Family AI Agreement."

Your kids

Built for ages 4 to 12, the ages the guide's scripts cover.

Grown-ups signing (optional)

Step 2 of 6

Your one-line family rule

Short, honest, repeatable. A child can remember two short sentences; they can't remember a seven-minute explanation. Pick your one line and say it every time.

Skip it and the agreement leaves it out.

Step 3 of 6

House norms

These five are the guide's defaults: starting points, not commandments. Each has a kid-height line to say out loud. Write them down together and your kid is more likely to own them.

Norm 1
Norm 2
Define "try": a count or a timer, and the attempt shows on paper
Norm 3
Norm 4
Norm 5
Norm 6 · Your own

Step 4 of 6

Homework zones

One question sits above every zone: Who is doing the thinking here, my child or the AI? Green means go, yellow means pause and ask, red means not now. What each kid sees depends on their age.

Step 5 of 6

Screens and devices

The fix for screens after bedtime is architecture, not hallway patrols: one charging spot, installed as a norm at a calm moment. Blank fields print as lines you can fill in by hand.

For everyone

First-device terms appear here when a kid is 9 to 12.

Step 6 of 6

Amnesty, check-ins, and signatures

Rules evolve as kids grow. Changing them together, in writing, with a date, prevents "but you said" fights.

Ten minutes: one win, one friction, one tweak, a look at the week ahead. Real arguments for a change get made here.

Live preview

Family AI Agreement

Our Family AI Agreement

For our whole family

Our family line

“Tools help you learn after you try. They don't replace your brain.”

Our house norms

  1. Shared spaces for screen time when possible: the kitchen or living room.

    Say it“Screens live where the family lives.”

  2. Homework: try first, then help.

    "Try" in our house means 2 problems or 10 minutes, and an attempt counts when we can see it on paper.

    Say it“Your try goes first. Help comes second.”

  3. No pasted school answers, unless the teacher explicitly allows it for that assignment.

    Say it“Your teacher is trying to see what you think. If you paste an AI answer, they never actually see you.”

  4. Adult gate for new tools: a new app or AI tool means a short family conversation before first use.

    Say it“New tool, two minutes with a grown-up first.”

  5. Sleep wins: devices charge outside the bedroom, and that includes the grown-ups.

    Say it“Phones sleep in the kitchen. Mine too.”

Homework zones

Who is doing the thinking here, my child or the AI?

Ages 4 to 6Green is the only zone.

Green go, no need to ask

  • Spell-check after writing a handwritten draft.
  • Teacher-approved practice apps that test skills you already learned.

Everything else

Happens with a grown-up.

Ages 7 to 8Yellow arrives gradually, one situation at a time. Red stays firm.

Green go, no need to ask

  • Spell-check after writing a handwritten draft.
  • Teacher-approved practice apps that test skills you already learned.

Yellow pause, ask a grown-up first

  • Step-by-step hints after written tries, with a parent available.

Red not in our house right now

  • Write my paragraph, report, or answer for me.
  • Screenshots of a completed answer to copy.
  • Anything that makes the final product without your thinking in it.
Ages 9 to 12The screen-off test decides. Could you explain this answer out loud with the screen off?

Green go, no need to ask

  • It explains a concept.
  • It quizzes you.
  • It checks work you already did.

Yellow pause, ask a grown-up first

  • It edits or outlines a draft you wrote, once we check the rule for that assignment.

Red not in our house right now

  • It produces sentences you turn in.
  • It does the thinking and you copy it out by hand.

New cases will come up. You help us classify them, because the classifying is the learning.

Screens and devices

Overnight, every device sleeps in
the kitchen, grown-ups' devices too
Devices dock by
School-day screens
After homework
Weekend screens

The amnesty clause

Bringing it to us early always beats us finding out later, no matter what the thing is. We help first and ask questions second.

How this agreement changes

We change it together, in writing, with a date. Real arguments at check-in can move a rule; wearing someone down doesn't.

Weekly check-in: Sundays, ten minutes. One win, one friction, one tweak, the week ahead. Weekly for a month, then monthly.

Between the grown-ups: the first answer stands. We fix the rule tomorrow, not the ruling tonight.

Signed

Grown-up

Grown-up

Kid

Kid

Date we agreed:  ·  Review date:

Made with the free Family AI Agreement Builder at yourkidfoundchatgpt.com/tools/family-ai-agreement.html

Prints only the agreement on US Letter, one or two pages. In the print dialog, choose "Save as PDF" to keep a copy.

Optional

Email me a copy of the cheat sheet + scripts

Your agreement is free to print above, no email needed. If you'd also like the one-page cheat sheet (house rules, the green, yellow, red system, and five word-for-word scripts), we'll send it.

Free cheat sheet now, plus a few short emails with scripts. Unsubscribe anytime.

Make it stick: three small moves

  1. Fill it in together, at a calm moment. Not in the middle of a fight. Rules your kids help write are rules they defend. With a 9 to 12 kid, let them draft lines with you and pick terms inside your limits.
  2. Read it aloud, then post it. Let a younger kid decorate it or sign with a drawing. Post it where the fights happen: the fridge, or above the homework spot.
  3. Bring it to the weekly check-in. Ten minutes, same day each week: one win, one friction, one tweak. When a rule changes, write the change down and date it.

Want the thinking behind the lines? Read the five AI house rules, the green, yellow, red homework zone system, and the seven-day family onboarding plan.

Frequently asked questions

What should a family AI agreement include?

Keep it to a page or two. Start with a one-line family rule: tools help you learn after you try, and they don't replace your brain. Add a few house norms (shared spaces for screens, try first and then get help, no pasted school answers, an adult gate for new tools, devices charging outside bedrooms), homework zones matched to each child's age, device rules, an amnesty clause, and a date with everyone's signatures.

How should homework AI rules change by age?

Ages 4 to 6 get one zone, green, and everything else happens with a grown-up. Ages 7 to 8 add yellow (ask first) gradually, one situation at a time, while red stays firm. Ages 9 to 12 get the full system and one test they can run alone: could you explain this answer out loud with the screen off? The builder shows each child the zones for their age.

Should kids sign a family technology agreement?

Yes, when they can. Rules a child helps write down are rules they are more likely to own, and a dated signature heads off later arguments about what was agreed. Younger kids can sign or draw. For a first phone or device at ages 9 to 12, the child's signature is part of the deal, because the device comes with terms they agreed to out loud.

How often should we update the agreement?

Change it together, in writing, with a date, and never in the middle of a fight. A ten-minute weekly check-in (weekly for the first four weeks, then monthly) is where a child can argue for a change. Put ages 9, 11, and 12 on the calendar for a bigger review, starting with redrawing the homework zones at 9.

Where these defaults come from

Your Kid Found ChatGPT. Now What?

The guide behind this builder: six conversation habits with word-for-word scripts for ages 4 to 8 and 9 to 12, the full first-device chapter, the homework that wrote itself, and 16 printable sheets. A 121-page PDF for parents of kids ages 4 to 12.

Get the full guide, $19 →
Instant PDF download