Login
Danger! Kids Are Chatting With AI Like It’s Their Best Friend
Move over, TikTok — kids have a new favorite digital confidant, and this one answers in complete sentences. A new U.K. report, Me, Myself & AI, reveals that a growing number of children are turning to AI chatbots not just to cheat — er, study — for exams, but for emotional support, fashion advice and even companionship.
The report, published Sunday by the nonprofit Internet Matters, surveyed 1,000 children and 2,000 parents across the U.K. and found that 64% of kids are using AI chatbots for everything from schoolwork to practicing tough conversations.
Even more eyebrow-raising: over a third of these young users say talking to a chatbot feels like talking to a friend. Sure, the bots don’t eat your snacks or hog the Xbox, but they also don’t come with built-in safety checks — at least not yet.
PA Warns Families About Lead in Walmart Kids’ Bikes. Do You Have One?
Bucks County Courier Times reported:
The Pennsylvania Department of Health is urging parents to check their children’s bicycles after a recent federal recall of SPPTTY brand kids’ bikes due to dangerously high levels of lead.
Roughly 200 of the bikes were sold exclusively online through Walmart.com between August and December of 2024, retailing for about $85. The bikes — pink with brown seats, handlebars, pedals and baskets — were sold in 14-inch and 18-inch sizes and are marked with the brand “SPPTTY” and “New Sport Bike” on the frame.
Multiple parts of the bikes, as well as the black paint used on the accompanying pumps, contain lead levels that exceed federal safety standards, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
“Lead is harmful if ingested and poses significant risks to children’s health,” Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Debra Bogen said in the state’s recall announcement. Even at low levels, lead exposure can impair learning, hearing and growth. At high levels, it can cause convulsions, coma and even death.
Nicotine Poisoning Rises in Babies and Toddlers: Study
Poison control centers are sounding the alarm on nicotine pouches as the number of young children accidentally ingesting them rises. According to a study published in the medical journal Pediatrics, calls to poison control centers that involved children under the age of 6 with nicotine poisoning rose by over 760% between 2020 and 2023. Nearly all cases happened at home.
While cases included chewing tobacco, vapes and nicotine replacements such as gum and lozenges, authors of the study pointed to the rising popularity of flavored nicotine pouches as the driving force behind accidental nicotine poisonings.
The levels of nicotine in pouches can vary from 3 to 12 milligrams per pouch. At the lowest doses, it can release more nicotine than a cigarette, and even that small amount can be dangerous to children. Some minor symptoms of nicotine poisoning include nausea and vomiting, but as the dose increases, more serious side effects include high blood pressure and a fast heart rate, which can lead to seizures and respiratory failure.
Childhood Trauma Can Harm Health for Life
Adverse experiences and environments in childhood may cause a chain reaction of mental and physical health problems later in life, according to new University of Georgia research. The study suggests growing up with negative events and in dangerous communities in early adolescence can alter an entire lifetime, particularly for Black men and women.
“Things that happen to you in childhood — from how you’re raised as a child to the environment that you’re in — can lead to long-standing issues,” said Sierra Carter, co-author of the study and the new associate director of UGA’s Center for Family Research.
The researchers relied on data from the UGA-led Family and Community Health Study. Beginning in 1996, the ongoing study follows more than 800 families, all of which had a fifth grader at the start of the study. The researchers reinterview participants every two to three years.
