Safe on Social says critical thinking is becoming one of the most important digital safety skills for American children.
ALEXANDRIA, VA / ACCESS Newswire / October 7, 2026 / American children are growing up with almost unlimited access to answers.
The challenge is no longer simply finding information. It is deciding whether that information deserves to be trusted.
That is why Safe on Social Inc., powered by Ctrl+Shft, is calling for greater focus on practical critical-thinking skills as artificial intelligence becomes embedded in how young people learn, search and make decisions.
Pew Research Center reported in February 2026 that more than half of U.S. teens have used AI chatbots for schoolwork, while 64% use AI chatbots overall. Yet only about one-quarter said they were extremely or very confident in their ability to use them. Among teens concerned about AI’s negative impact, 34% specifically cited over-reliance or the loss of critical thinking and creativity.
For Kirra Pendergast, bestselling author, digital safety expert and Founder of Safe on Social, this represents a fundamental shift.
“For most of human history, the difficult part was finding an answer. Our children are growing up in a world where answers are instant, fluent and almost unlimited. The difficult part now is deciding whether the answer deserves their trust.”
That means young people increasingly need to ask: What is the evidence? What is missing? Who benefits if I believe this? Can I verify it? And am I prepared to defend the conclusion as my own?
Making Critical Thinking Practical
Safe on Social has built that philosophy into its newly launched Smartphone Readiness Project.
Instead of parents simply answering yes or no when a child asks for a smartphone, app or digital platform, the child is asked to build a business case.
They must explain what they want, why they want it, what it costs, what the benefits and risks are, what could go wrong, and what they would do if it does.
The purpose is not to produce the perfect document. It is to make the child’s thinking visible.
“A business case is critical thinking with something real at stake,” Pendergast said.
The same principle applies whether the issue is a phone, an AI tool, a new app, a later curfew or a first job.
AI Can Write the Document. It Cannot Own the Reasoning.
The rise of generative AI also creates an obvious question: what stops a child from simply asking AI to write the business case?
Pendergast says that is exactly why the process matters.
“The document was never the point. The thinking becomes visible in the conversation. A child who has outsourced the reasoning may struggle with the second follow-up question. A child who has used AI to challenge and sharpen their own thinking can keep going.”
The original Smartphone Readiness framework makes the same distinction: AI may generate a draft in seconds, but the child still has to explain and take responsibility for what it says.
For Safe on Social, that is the broader purpose of its KNOW pillar: helping children, parents and educators build the knowledge and judgment needed to navigate technology before something goes wrong.
Will Anstee, Global CEO of Safe on Social, said:
“AI is going to make knowledge extraordinarily accessible. But access to knowledge and the ability to exercise judgment are not the same thing.”
“We don’t want a generation of children who are simply excellent at getting answers. We want young people who know when to challenge an answer, verify it and decide what they themselves believe.”
The Smartphone Readiness Project, launched in the U.S. on October 6, gives families a structured way to make those skills practical by basing access on demonstrated judgment and responsibility rather than age or peer pressure alone.
Pendergast’s advice to parents is simple:
“The next time your child says, ‘Can I have a phone? Everyone else has one,’ try saying: I’m open to it. Go away and make me your case. Here is the workbook.“
The Smartphone Readiness Project
The Smartphone Readiness Project is available at: https://www.safeonsocial.com/product-page/the-smartphone-readiness-project
About Safe on Social Inc.
Safe on Social, powered by Ctrl+Shft, has worked at the frontline of digital safety since 2013, building more than a decade of Earned Intelligence™ from the real-world experiences of schools, educators, families and communities.
Founded by bestselling author and digital safety expert Kirra Pendergast, that frontline knowledge now powers Ctrl+Shft, a Behavioral Risk Intelligence platform designed to identify emerging patterns of digital and behavioral risk earlier, document duty of care, and help organizations act before concerning signals become serious harm.
Learn more at www.safeonsocial.com.
Media, Partnership & Investor Inquiries
Will Anstee
Safe on Social Inc.
will@safeonsocial.com
www.safeonsocial.com
SOURCE: Safe on Social
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