How We Build with Children Shapes the Future They Inherit
Preparing children to understand the systems shaping their world
The Systems Children Are Growing Up Inside
The systems shaping our lives rarely introduce themselves. They operate quietly through the tools we use, the platforms we rely on, and the algorithms that influence what we see and how we engage.
Children are growing up inside these systems.
Long before they are taught how artificial intelligence works, they are already interacting with it. Long before we explain how predictions are generated or how data is used, they are navigating tools designed to respond, recommend, and influence.
As a cybersecurity professional and educator, I began to see a gap. Children were being taught digital fluency without digital understanding. They were learning how to use technology—but not how to question it.
That distinction matters.
Building More Than a Book
What started as a single story has become something much larger.
When my 9-year-old daughter and I wrote Emani and the CyberHero Response Team, our focus was empowerment. We wanted children to see themselves as capable participants in the digital world, not passive users moving through systems they did not understand.
This was never meant to be a one-off book.
We are intentionally building a children’s digital safety and AI literacy franchise—one that grows with young readers, expands into classrooms and communities, and evolves alongside the technology shaping their lives.
The first book opened the door. Workshops followed. Community conversations expanded. Families wanted more tools. Educators wanted structured resources.
And the questions became more complex.
AI, Mental Health, and Literacy
During a workshop, a child asked:
“If a machine can guess what I want to do, does that mean it decides for me?”
That question reflects a broader shift.
A nationally representative study published in JAMA Network Open found that approximately 13 percent of adolescents and young adults in the United States have already used generative AI tools for mental health advice, with usage rising to more than 20 percent among older teens and young adults.
Source: Use of Generative AI for Mental Health Advice Among U.S. Adolescents and Young Adults, JAMA Network Open.
This is not a reason for alarm. It is a reason for literacy.
When young people turn to powerful systems for guidance without understanding how those systems are designed, trained, or limited, they are navigating complexity without context.
AI tools can support learning and well-being. But children deserve to understand that these systems are built by humans, shaped by data, and influenced by design choices.
When they understand that, they gain agency.
Expanding the Franchise Intentionally
Rather than rushing into a second storybook, we expanded the franchise strategically.
We introduced AI safety coloring books and companion activity tools designed to reinforce literacy through creativity and conversation.
Coloring Book One focuses specifically on AI safety. It helps children understand that artificial intelligence is not magic—it is engineered.
Coloring Book Two explores smart tools and AI, encouraging discernment about how digital systems influence attention, emotion, and decision-making.
These are not side projects. They are part of a long-term framework.
Book Two of Emani and the CyberHero Response Team is actively in development. The narrative continues. The universe expands.
This is infrastructure, not impulse.
Building With a Child, Not Just for Children
Perhaps the most important part of this work is that it is not being built in isolation.
It is being built with my 9-year-old daughter.
She is not a marketing feature. She is a collaborator. A reader. A question-asker. A test audience. A reminder of why clarity matters.
Building this franchise together has reshaped how I think about leadership.
It has reinforced that systems thinking begins at the kitchen table. That agency can be taught early. That children do not need simplified truths—they need honest ones delivered at the right level.
The systems shaping our future are built by people. That means they reflect human choices.
If we want the next generation to participate thoughtfully in shaping those systems, we must invite them into the conversation now.
Understanding becomes empowerment.
Empowerment becomes discernment.
And discernment, practiced early, becomes leadership.
More about the CyberHero franchise and AI safety resources can be found at AQ’s Corner.
