AI Safety Drills & Digital Citizenship: Teaching Families to Navigate the Digital World

How to Protect Your Family, Stay Safe Online, and Train AI Like a Pro

Introduction: Why Your Family Needs AI Safety Drills

AI is everywhere—your home, your kid’s tablet, even your refrigerator is suspiciously smart now. While AI makes life easier, it also comes with risks: misinformation, privacy concerns, and bias. Just like fire drills prepare us for emergencies, AI safety drills prepare families to think critically and stay safe online.

This blog will cover:

✔️ AI safety drills for families
✔️ Teaching kids digital citizenship
✔️ How to train AI to work for you—not the other way around

Section 1: AI Safety Drills – Because AI Doesn’t Come with a Manual

1.1 What Are AI Safety Drills?

Think of them like fire drills—but for AI. They teach families how to respond to misinformation, scams, biased AI, and privacy risks.

🚀 Example: What do you do if an AI chatbot gives your child the wrong information?
✅ The AI Safety Drill Instructor’s Key Rule: “Trust, but verify.” Every AI response should be fact-checked—just like a sketchy Wikipedia edit.

🌟 The AI Safety Obstacle Course 🌟

Objective: Navigate through a series of AI safety challenges as a family unit, overcoming digital obstacles and strengthening your defense skills!

What you'll need:

• A shared device (tablet or laptop)
• Paper and pens
• Your teamwork and problem-solving skills!

Setup:

Create a CustomGPT for this exercise by going to chat.openai.com and using this prompt:

"You are the AI Safety Drill Sergeant. Your role is to guide families through an AI Safety Obstacle Course with 5 challenging scenarios. Follow these instructions:

Present 5 AI safety scenarios, one at a time. Each scenario should focus on a different aspect of AI safety or digital citizenship:

1️⃣ Deepfake detection
2️⃣ Secure communication
3️⃣ Phishing awareness
4️⃣ App permissions
5️⃣ Digital footprint management

For each scenario:
✔️ Describe the situation in a clear, engaging manner
✔️ Present a challenge related to the scenario
✔️ Offer 3 possible solutions to choose from
✔️ Explain why the family’s choice was correct or incorrect
✔️ Provide a practical safety lesson learned

Maintain a supportive, encouraging tone throughout the exercise.

💡 [Humanize]: Use conversational language and occasional humor to keep the tone friendly and relatable.
📢 [Hemingway’s Rules]: Keep sentences short and clear. Use active voice.
🎒 [7th Grade Level]: Ensure the language and concepts are understandable to a 7th-grade student.

Confirm that you understand your role and are ready to lead families through the AI Safety Obstacle Course."

The Challenge:

1️⃣ Gather your family and explain that you're about to face a series of digital obstacles together.
2️⃣ Use your CustomGPT to present each scenario and challenge.
3️⃣ Discuss each situation as a team before deciding on your course of action.
4️⃣ Complete all 5 challenges to successfully finish the AI Safety Obstacle Course and earn your Digital Defense badges!

🏆 Bonus Challenge: After completing the course, design your own AI safety obstacle and add it to the course. Share it in the comments to challenge other family units!

1.2 AI Safety Drill #1 – Spot the Fake (Fact-Checking Challenge)

🚀 Scenario: Your kid asks Alexa+, “Who was the first person on Mars?” and the AI confidently says, “Jeff Bezos, in 2026.” 😬
✅ The Drill: Teach your family how to verify AI-generated information using trusted sources (Google Scholar, Snopes).
🔍 Challenge: Have your kids ask an AI assistant 5 historical questions and fact-check each response.

💡 Pro tip: Use AI-powered fact-checking tools like Google Fact Check Explorer and NewsGuard to spot false information faster.

1.3 AI Safety Drill #2 – Privacy Lockdown (Protecting Family Data)

🚀 Scenario: Your child downloads a free AI-powered learning app that asks for access to their microphone, camera, and location. Red flag? 🚩
✅ The Drill: Check app permissions together. Teach kids how to turn off unnecessary tracking, review terms of service, and use privacy settings.
🔍 Challenge: Review the privacy settings on your family’s most-used AI apps and tighten security where needed.

💡 Pro tip: Enable device-level AI privacy tools like Apple’s App Tracking Transparency and Google My Activity settings to reduce data collection.

Section 2: Digital Citizenship – Teaching Kids to Be Smart AI Users

2.1 What Is Digital Citizenship and Why It Matters?

🚀 Case Study: The Deepfake Dilemma

• Deepfake images and videos are everywhere these days, especially around political figures and celebrities.

• Lesson: Teach kids to analyze digital content carefully and use reverse image search or AI-detection tools to verify authenticity.

💡 Challenge: Show your kids real vs. AI-generated images and have them guess which ones are fake.

Conclusion: The Future of AI Is in Your Hands

AI isn’t just a tool—it’s something we interact with daily. By practicing AI safety drills and teaching digital citizenship, families can stay smart, safe, and in control.

📌 Final challenge: What’s one thing you’ll do this week to make AI work for you, not against you? Let’s hear it! 🚀

About the Author

Warren Schuitema is a father, AI enthusiast, and founder of Matchless Marketing LLC. Passionate about leveraging technology to simplify family life, Warren has firsthand experience integrating AI solutions into his household. He has been testing tools like Cozi Family Organizer (Cozi), Ohai.ai (Ohai.ai), and other tools to coordinate schedules, automate household tasks, and create meaningful moments with his family.  He has also created a handful of useful customGPTs for uses in family situations, such as meal planning, education, family traditions, and efficiency in the home.  He is also an AI Certified Consultant that has been trained by industry experts across multiple areas of AI.

With a background in demand planning, forecasting, and digital marketing, Warren combines his professional expertise with his passion for AI-driven innovation. His practical approach emphasizes accessible solutions for busy parents looking to reduce stress and strengthen family bonds. Warren lives with his family, where devices like Google Home, Amazon Echo, and other AI-powered assistants help streamline their lives, showing that thoughtful technology can enhance harmony and efficiency.