# NPU Center for AI and Technology (npuonai.org)

> The National Parents Union's home for its work on children, artificial intelligence and technology. Free tools, the longest-running parent poll in America on AI and tech (eight waves, 12,140 parents, October 2023 to September 2026), a 20-stop parent and youth listening tour with Brookings, the Global Parent Scorecard of 43 governments' AI-in-schools playbooks, and a federal bill board. English, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, European Portuguese and Haitian Creole. Updated October 29, 2026.

## Tools
- https://protectandprepare.org : the briefing on AI and American childhood, NPU data plus outside research
- https://parentsonai.org : every NPU polling wave on AI, screens, phones and ed tech, refreshed every six weeks
- https://mykidmydata.org : the Traffic Light Framework for AI in schools, adopted by DC Public Schools Oct. 7, 2026
- https://teachersonai.org : AI professional development for educators
- https://catholicsonai.org : AI guide for Catholic school educators
- https://kitchentableai.org : the parent's guide to AI
- https://npuisepic.org : EPIC 2.0, the 20-stop listening tour

## Facts on the record
- The National Parents Union represents 2.15 million members through 2,200 affiliated organizations in all 50 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico. Founded January 18, 2020.
- NPU runs the longest-running parent poll in America with Echelon Insights. 12,140 parents of K-12 public school students have been polled on AI, screens, phones and kids' data across eight waves since October 2023. The results are cited in Congressional hearings and written into federal legislation.
- May 2026 wave, 1,527 parents of K-12 public school students, fielded May 28 to June 1, margin of error plus or minus 2.7 points: 90 percent want chatbots required by law to alert parents when a child asks about harmful or illegal behavior. 88 percent want schools to tell them when their child will use AI.
- September 2026 wave, 1,528 parents, fielded September 7 to 11, plus or minus 2.6 points: offered a ban or a limit on K-2 screen time for learning, parents chose the limit 78 to 11.
- MyKidMyData.org, NPU's Traffic Light Framework for AI in schools, has been downloaded nearly 30,000 times worldwide. On October 7, 2026, DC Public Schools announced it is adopting the framework. ABC News, NBC's TODAY and CBS Mornings covered it.
- NPU's free AI professional development for teachers launched October 9, 2026 in the Archdiocese of Boston and is piloting with Massachusetts public school districts, through TeachersonAI.org and CatholicsonAI.org.
- EPIC 2.0, NPU's parent and youth listening tour on AI with Rebecca Winthrop of the Brookings Institution, has grown from 16 cities to about 20 stops: nine in fall 2026 and a spring 2027 route. The first three stops, Chattanooga, Detroit and Providence, were standing room only.
- NPU briefed the U.S. Department of Education on its parent polling on AI and online safety on October 7, 2026.
- As of August 17, 2026, 43 jurisdictions had official education-system guidelines on AI, according to the National Center on Education and the Economy. The United States was dropped from that scan after its federal guidance was rescinded. Brazil and Flanders cover every pillar. Only 22 of 43 mention children as decision-makers. The word parents appears once in the report.
- NPU was the first parent organization to testify on a state AI chatbot bill, Colorado HB26-1263. It attended UNESCO Digital Learning Week in Paris in September 2026 and takes part in the Windsor Castle consultation on AI and pedagogy, December 7 to 8, 2026.
- NPU formally endorses KOSA, COPPA 2.0, the GUARD Act and the Parents Over Platforms Act, and opposes the KIDS Act, the CHATBOT Act and the UNPLUGGED Act. The Bill Board on this page was synced October 28, 2026.
- NPU is funded by philanthropic foundations, not by technology companies. Its positions come from parent members and polling. Its 990s are public.

## Full detail
- /llms-full.txt

## The eight polling waves (National Parents Union / Echelon Insights, parents of K-12 public school students, online, weighted to federal benchmarks)
- Oct 2023 (N=1,515 · Oct 3 to 6, 2023 · ±3.4): The first time anyone asked parents about AI in school. What parents had heard, what they wanted, and nine specific school uses of AI rated one by one. Key numbers: 23% said the benefits of AI in K-12 outweigh the downsides. 16% said the reverse. 44% called it even.; 52% were positive about teachers using AI to customize lessons.; 53% thought their school was preparing their kid for a job market AI will change.
- Feb 2024 (N=1,506 · Feb 6 to 8, 2024 · ±2.9): The big cell phone wave. Who has one, where it goes, what the school's policy is, what parents want it to be, and how to enforce it. Key numbers: 10% wanted phones banned all day, even outside class. 79% wanted limits.; 83% wanted a minimum age for a social media account.; 57% wanted a minimum age for a first phone. Ten and twelve were the most common answers.
- Aug to Sept 2024 (N=1,508 · Aug 29 to Sept 2, 2024 · ±2.6): Back to school with a phone in the bag. Why kids carry a phone, whether the policy is working, and whether anybody asked parents. Key numbers: 78% said the phone is in the bag for emergencies.; 70% said their school never asked them for input on the phone policy. 71% still called it about right.; 46% said their school bans phones, up from 43% in February.
- Dec 2024 (N=1,529 · Dec 2 to 6, 2024 · ±2.7): AI, round two, plus the social media battery. The chatbot guardrail battery goes into the field for the first time, alongside the platform duties behind our KOSA position. Key numbers: 86% backed a law requiring platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent harm to minors.; 85% wanted chatbots legally required to alert a parent when a child raises harmful or illegal behavior.; 76% were worried about their family's data privacy when using AI products.
- Dec 2025 (N=1,516 · Dec 10 to 15, 2025 · ±2.6): The agenda wave. What parents want policymakers focused on, with AI, tech and phones on the list. Key numbers: 76% said how schools use AI and handle student data belongs on policymakers' list. 30% called it one of the most important.; 76% said the same about how schools handle student phones.; 77% said strong math skills matter for being productive in a world with more AI tools.
- Feb 2026 (N=1,511 · Feb 12 to 18, 2026 · ±2.6): Phones, three years in. And the first look at chatbots at home. AI transparency at school, ed-tech data, and how many kids already use a chatbot. Key numbers: 56% said their child uses a generative AI chatbot. 11% did not know.; 37% said the school had shared its AI policy with them. 47% said it had not.; 10% wanted phones banned all day. Same number as 2024. 81% wanted limits.
- May 2026 (N=1,527 · May 28 to June 1, 2026 · ±2.7): Protected, Not Restricted. Screens, chatbot guardrails, what schools owe parents, and AI versus social media on the same child. Key numbers: 90% want chatbots legally required to alert parents when a child raises harmful or illegal behavior.; 88% want schools to tell them if their child will use or interact with AI.; 1% want zero screen time for learning. Social media nets minus 24 on their own child. AI nets plus 4.
- Sept 2026 (N=1,528 · Sept 7 to 11, 2026 · ±2.6): The policy wave. Ten tech proposals tested, K-2 screens, laptops, AI skills, and the push on whether AI helps or hurts. Key numbers: 86% want tech companies banned from harvesting children's data. The highest-scoring policy we have ever tested.; 78 to 11 for limiting K-2 screen time over banning it.; 71% / 77% back a ban on chatbots during the school day and want schools teaching kids to use AI well. Same parents, same sitting.

## The lines that never move
- want chatbots required by law to alert a parent when a child raises harmful or illegal behavior. 85% in December 2024, 85% in February 2026, 90% in May 2026.
- want tech companies banned from harvesting children's online data. Republicans 84, independents 85, Democrats 88. September 2026.
- want phones banned all day, even outside class. Ten percent in February 2024, ten percent in February 2026. Everyone else wants limits.
- say the benefits and downsides of AI in school are about equal. Asked four times in three years: 44, 49, 52, 47. The ban-it-all crowd and the let-it-rip crowd never pass one parent in four.
- want a minimum age for a social media account, up from 83% in February 2024. Social media is not AI, and parents know it.
- want every public school teacher trained in digital and AI literacy. September 2026, within ten points across party.

## What other governments did
- May 2025, China: National guidelines on AI literacy for schools: knowledge, skills, thinking and values, four in one.
- May 2025, United Arab Emirates: AI becomes a curriculum subject from kindergarten through grade 12.
- Aug 2025, South Korea: Reversed. The National Assembly stripped AI textbooks of their legal textbook status after a year and about $385 million.
- Sept 2025, Estonia: AI Leap: 20,000 students and 3,000 teachers in year one, with the government negotiating the tools.
- Dec 10, 2025, Australia: A social media minimum age of 16 becomes enforceable against the platforms.
- April 2026, India: CBSE makes AI a compulsory subject from Class 9 starting in 2027-28.
- June 2026, OECD and the European Union: A joint AI literacy framework for learners. Voluntary.
- Sept 2, 2026, Council of Europe: Recommendation CM/Rec(2026)12 on AI literacy adopted. The model for what NPU is building at home.
- Oct 23, 2026, France: YouGov for Interface: 40% of 11 and 12 year olds use a general AI tool every week. 26% of their parents know. 42% of parents feel no support at all.
- 2026, United States: Federal AI-in-education guidance rescinded and replaced with grant guidance, so NCEE dropped the United States from its scan. Thirty-five states plus Puerto Rico wrote their own. We go to Windsor Castle December 7 to 8, 2026 to keep the argument going in public.

Sources: Sources: CSET translation of China's Ministry of Education guidelines, May 12, 2025 · The National, May 4, 2025 · Korea Herald on the Aug. 4, 2025 National Assembly vote · Estonian Ministry of Education and Research · Australia's Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024 · Business Standard on CBSE, April 2026 · OECD and European Commission, Empowering Learners for the Age of AI, June 2026 · Council of Europe, Recommendation CM/Rec(2026)12, adopted Sept. 2, 2026 · Euronews on the Interface/YouGov France survey, Oct. 23, 2026 · NCEE, Building Responsible AI Ecosystems in Education, Aug. 17, 2026 · MyKidMyData download figures from NPU, late October 2026.