• Overwhelming majority of U.S. mothers support strong guardrails or limits for children: Only 6% believe AI is a net positive force and that children should simply “learn to use it.”

• Mothers’ concerns are concentrated and consistent: more than half report concern about child exposure to unsafe or inappropriate content, confusion between human- and AI-generated interactions, and behavioral or social–emotional impacts.

• A substantial transparency gap exists: 80% of U.S. mothers do not feel confident they understand how their child’s data are collected or used by AI systems, and 11% did not know data were being collected at all.

• AI exposure is already institutionalized: children are encountering AI across home, school, and social environments—including widespread use on school-issued devices—often through platforms parents did not actively choose and cannot easily opt out of.

• 25% of mothers of children ages 8–12 report that their child uses AI to accomplish tasks such as thinking, organization, and planning – functions that are central to the development of executive skills during this critical period of brain maturation.

• Across political ideology, education level, and region, mothers overwhelmingly call for enforceable safeguards, including clear disclosure when children interact with AI, age-appropriate design, limits on data collection and use, and institutional accountability that does not rely on parental vigilance alone.

Source: Count on Mothers, AI & Child Safety, Jan 2026 (n=2,290)