Why I started this guide
The idea came from questions close to home.
I watched one of my sisters navigate her teenage years with social media. More recently, another younger sister asked why I was using AI. Her question brought me back to an idea I’d been thinking about: a guide that gives adults somewhere to start.
Reading Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation also shaped how I think about growing up online. He isn’t connected to this guide and hasn’t reviewed or endorsed it.
I’m Shane Pelkey, from Brainerd, Minnesota. I wanted something useful in an ordinary conversation. A question to ask, words to try, and a way to decide what comes next.
The guide is still taking shape. For now, you can read Chapter 4, “Homework Help or Homework Replacement?” It includes six conversation cards, a family activity and a checklist.
How it’s made
Claude helps draft the chapters. I’m the human reviewer and decide what is shared. AI tools also helped design and build the website.
That doesn’t mean every claim has been independently verified. Chapter 4 includes source notes, dates and questions that still need checking.
Where review stands
A mental health professional has agreed to review the Chapter 4 sample and the first batch of conversation cards. That agreement does not cover the full guide, checklist or website.
No completed professional review, approval or endorsement is claimed. Teacher, privacy, safeguarding and legal reviews have not been completed.
This is general educational material, not medical, legal or emergency advice. The chapter keeps its safety qualifications alongside the relevant passages.
Questions or corrections?
Contact Shane on LinkedIn or submit optional feedback on the existing review site. Its privacy and retention terms are shown there. Please leave out child-identifying details and private conversations.
Other work: Political Oversight, a nonpartisan project explaining what Congress is doing.