Free resources are going live: 55 ready to download — free, no registration.Free resources →
BeetsAI
English中文

P1-P6 Home AI agreement: parent and child set the boundaries together — six boundaries, three situations, a one-page five-column agreement and a page for parents

  • StageP1-P6
  • SubjectClass teachers and parents
  • Learning strandreflection on the application of AI
  • Official documentsBlueprint for Digital Education Development in Primary and Secondary Schools · AI Literacy Learning Framework for Primary and Secondary Schools · The Primary Information and Innovation Technology Curriculum Framework (trial version), the "first steps with AI" part · EDBCM No. 156/2026
  • Time to prepare and usethe agreement goes out with the school letter; a 20-minute briefing by the class teacher

Six boundaries, three situations and a one-page five-column agreement: turning "how we use AI at home" from something said once into a page that is written down, signed by both sides and open to renegotiation.

A faceless parent sits at a light brown table writing on a blank pale sheet with a deep red pencil while a primary pupil beside them watches; a blue mug sits to one side and a light grey tablet with a dark screen to the other, against a blank wall.
  • Equipmenttwo editable Word documents (the agreement with its three situations, and the one page for parents); the agreement prints one page and can be copied on its own, signed once by the parent and once by the pupil
  • Version1.0
  • Last updated2026-11-07

The commonest gap at home is not that nobody said anything. It is that nothing was written down: one page, six boundaries, five columns, two signatures, and free to change afterwards. This page does not issue rules; it supplies a form that can be filled in and revised.

What this solves

Once the school letter has gone home, family life usually settles into one of four states:

  • Said once, never written down. Six things were covered in one conversation, and a week later everyone remembers “don’t use it so much”. The child remembers the tone; the parent remembers the worry; nobody remembers the boundary.
  • Handed down by one side. The parent writes the agreement and gives it to the child to sign, and the child does not know why any of it is there. An agreement written by one side rarely survives the first month — not because the child is uncooperative, but because they had no part in writing it.
  • Written as a prohibition with no practice. “No AI for homework” takes a second to write, but homework still has to be done, so the child uses it only when nobody is looking and the boundary disappears.
  • First mentioned after something has gone wrong. When a reply feels wrong, the child’s first instinct is to close it, delete it and say nothing, because the phone may be taken away. The sixth boundary — tell someone first — exists to prevent exactly that.

None of these is a parent who does not care. What is missing is one page that can be filled in, signed by both sides and changed later. This resource puts five things together: six boundaries, one sentence each; three situations (a junior pupil copying homework, a junior pupil generating a family photograph, a senior pupil confiding in a chatbot); a one-page five-column agreement signed by parent and pupil with a line saying it can be renegotiated at any time; a 20-minute briefing for the class teacher; and a one-page note for parents with four points. The attachments are two editable Word documents.

Three statements to read first:

  1. The six boundaries, the three situations, the five-column format and the parent page are this resource’s suggestion — not an Education Bureau requirement, and not a school rule. The school supplies the form; each family decides its own content. A school should not fill it in for families, nor hand the same content to every family as a requirement.
  2. Not signing it and not returning it affects nothing at school. The school takes no reply slip, records nothing about who returned what, compares no classes, and writes nothing about signing into any pupil’s record.
  3. This resource gives no time or duration advice. It quotes no hours or minutes from any body (the Department of Health, the WHO or anyone else), because those recommendations differ in audience, setting and measurement, and a borrowed number becomes a rule with no context. If a family wants a fixed period, the family sets it and writes it into column five.

Three things neither the page nor the attachments contain: no named tool, platform or app; no real school, person or class; and no wording that turns the agreement into a school rule or trades on consequences for not signing. All three situations are marked as fictional.

Learning objectives

With this agreement in place, a family can:

  1. Say how AI is used at home in six boundaries, one sentence each, without writing more.
  2. Recognise, from three everyday situations, which boundary is in play and what a reply might be.
  3. Fill in the five-column agreement with their own arrangements, sign it as parent and as pupil, and state that it can be renegotiated at any time.
  4. Hold one conversation using the four points on the parent page, rather than issuing a notice.
  5. Know that the agreement is not a school rule and that signing it carries no consequence either way at school.

The page is written around the three learning strands of AI literacy and addresses reflection on the application of AI; the three strands are the basic operation of AI, human-machine communication and collaboration, and reflection on the application of AI. It sits between critical thinking and values and attitudes: critical thinking is telling “used a lot” apart from “used well”, and values and attitudes are writing a boundary as an agreement between people rather than a one-sided prohibition.

How to use it

The attachments are two Word documents: the agreement with its three situations (including the five-column page, which copies on its own) and the one page for parents (single-sided). The agreement goes home with the school letter; the class teacher spends 20 minutes on it in a class period or a parent meeting; the family fills it in at home, and the school does not collect it.

Step 1: Six boundaries, one sentence each

The order matters. The first three are about before use, the fourth and fifth about using, and the sixth about afterwards. There are six, no more and no fewer. Do not add a seventh (a daily number of minutes, or “no asking about homework”) and do not merge two into one.

Boundary In one sentence Why this one
1 · Say first Before starting, tell one adult at home which tool you are using and what for. It lets an adult know what is happening without an afterwards investigation. It is the cheapest boundary and the one most often skipped.
2 · No one else’s data Do not type in anyone else’s name, photograph, phone number, address, school or class. Other people’s data is not ours to give away, and once it is in, it cannot be taken back. Photographs above all: uploading someone’s picture decides something on their behalf.
3 · Homework is helped, not done AI can help you think; it cannot hand work in for you. Whatever you hand in, you must be able to explain how you did it. Homework exists so that something is learned, not so that something is submitted. Being able to explain it is the only real test of this boundary.
4 · Stop when it feels wrong If it feels uncomfortable, if you do not understand it, or if it asks you to do something you would not normally do, stop and tell an adult. Noticing that something is wrong needs no justification and no proof. Stopping is always allowed.
5 · Fixed times The family sets the times and writes them in column five; the hour before bed and the meal table (when the family eats together) are not using times. The hour before bed and the meal table are fixed points in family life. Keeping tools out of them means the boundary does not have to be renegotiated every night.
6 · Tell first if something happens If something happens, say so first; saying so will not get the phone taken away, or earn a punishment, or a telling-off. This is the boundary the whole agreement rests on. If telling means punishment, the first five will not hold.

Three notes on using them:

  • Write what is done, not what is forbidden. “Say first” can be followed; “don’t mess about” cannot. The same concern, written as an action, tells the child what to do next.
  • The family sets the times in boundary five; this resource gives no numbers. Household routines differ, and a period written into column five is worth more than a borrowed duration.
  • Boundary six has to be sayable out loud. Before signing, a parent should say once: “If you tell me, I won’t take it away on the spot.” If that sentence cannot be said, boundary six is only a line on paper.

Step 2: Three situations, all fictional

The three situations exist only to show how the boundaries work. All three are fictional: no real school, person or class, and no named tool or platform. A class teacher needs only one of them for the briefing (situation 1 or 2 for junior pupils, situation 3 for senior pupils).

Situation What happened Which boundary is in play One reply that works
1 · A junior pupil copies homework A P2 pupil pastes a whole worksheet question into a conversational AI tool and copies the answer onto the sheet; a parent finds the printed page on the desk. 3 (homework is helped, not done) and 1 (say first) “Talk me through how you’d do this one. If the tool says something different from you, we’ll look at which one is right.”
2 · A junior pupil generates a family photograph A P4 pupil uses an image generator to make a “family portrait”, uploading photographs of grandparents, then shows the result at home. 2 (no one else’s data) “A photograph is someone else’s data, so it can’t be uploaded. If we want a family portrait, we take one together, or we draw one.”
3 · A senior pupil confides in a chatbot A P6 pupil has been telling a conversational AI about school every night and will not stop to sleep; asked about it at home, they say “nothing”. 5 (fixed times) and 6 (tell first) “I’m glad you’re telling me. It doesn’t get tired, and it won’t remember you. That’s enough for tonight — tomorrow, if you want to talk, talk to me.”

Three notes:

  • The reply is one sentence, not a paragraph. One sentence can be said on the spot; a paragraph turns into a lecture.
  • Situation 3 is the one most easily handled as “no more of that”. But what the child was talking about is school; take hold of “they were willing to talk” first, then the times. If self-harm, bullying, grooming, money or images are involved, hand it to the school’s counselling team or the school social worker the same day through the school’s existing arrangements, and do not promise to keep it confidential.
  • Situation 2 is not really about the picture. It is about other people’s photographs not being ours to upload, and about having something else to do instead. “Don’t” on its own only teaches the child to be quieter next time.

Step 3: The one-page agreement, five columns, two signatures

The five columns are filled from left to right, with the six boundaries already printed in the first. There are five, no more and no fewer: do not add a “consequences” column (a consequence belongs in column four, in one sentence) and do not add a score or a progress column.

Boundary At our house this looks like Who reminds If we don’t manage it When we talk again
1 · Say first
2 · No one else’s data
3 · Homework is helped, not done
4 · Stop when it feels wrong
5 · Fixed times
6 · Tell first if something happens

Each column has one job, and a usable agreement needs all five:

  • Column two (at our house this looks like) is the only one that really has to be written. Put in the specifics: which period, where, who is present.
  • Column three (who reminds) names a person or a form of address, not “everyone”. A boundary nobody remembers does not happen.
  • Column four (if we don’t manage it) describes one conversation, not a punishment — for example, “we look through it together that evening and talk about which boundary was missed”.
  • Column five (when we talk again) names a point in time, such as “the start of term” or “after the next parents’ evening”.
  • Signature — the parent and the pupil each sign once. One signature is not an agreement; it is a notice.

Two lines at the foot of the page must stay:

This agreement can be renegotiated at any time: either side may raise it, it is changed in the next conversation, and both sides sign again.

Parent’s signature: ______________ Date: __________ Pupil’s signature: ______________ Date: __________

Step 4: A 20-minute briefing for the class teacher

The briefing has one aim: parents should leave knowing this is a form the family fills in, not a rule handed down by the school. Four five-minute segments:

  1. Five minutes: this is not a school rule. The school supplies the form; the family decides the content; the school does not collect it, record it or compare it. Say this plainly, or parents will assume there is a consequence for not returning it.
  2. Five minutes: read the six boundaries aloud. One sentence each. Do not explain each one, and do not give more than one example. Then ask parents to circle the two they most want to discuss first.
  3. Five minutes: one situation. Situation 1 or 2 for junior parents, situation 3 for senior parents. Cover only what happened and the one-sentence reply — not how anyone ought to bring up their child.
  4. Five minutes: how it goes home. With the school letter, printed single-sided; no reply slip, nothing collected, nothing recorded. Hand over the parent page with the agreement so the two pages are understood together.

Four things the briefing does not do: evaluate any family’s parenting; compare signing rates between classes; write whether a family signed into any pupil’s record or report; and describe the six boundaries as a school requirement.

Step 5: The parent page, four points

The parent page prints single-sided, goes out with the school letter and may be handed out at a parent meeting. It has four points, no more and no fewer:

  1. Write it together; it is not handed down by one side. Ask the child first which boundaries they think should be there, and write those down. The one the child named is usually the one that lasts.
  2. Write what is done, and be specific. The period, the place, who reminds. Not “be disciplined” or “use it in moderation” — neither can be followed.
  3. Talk first when it does not happen; do not confiscate on the spot. Confiscation is the fastest step, and the fastest way to make sure the child says nothing next time. Ask which boundary was missed, then agree what changes.
  4. Renegotiate once a term, and let the child raise it at any time. Children grow, homework changes, tools change, so the boundaries change too — and both sides sign again.

The parent page carries the same closing line: this agreement is not a school rule; not signing it and not returning it affects nothing at school.

Answer key and marking notes

This resource is not marked and has no levels, and there is no single right answer: column two should differ in every household. What follows is material for the class teacher’s briefing and for a parent’s reply.

Acceptable replies to the three situations (one sentence each is enough):

  • Situation 1 (a junior pupil copies homework): ask the child to explain how they would do it, then set the tool’s answer beside the child’s own working. An acceptable reply does two things: it makes “you must be able to explain what you hand in” concrete, and it offers an alternative (write it yourself first, then use the tool to check). Not acceptable: taking the whole piece of homework away, or saying only “no using it” with nothing to put in its place.
  • Situation 2 (a junior pupil generates a family photograph): an acceptable reply says two things — a photograph belongs to the person in it, and it cannot be uploaded without their agreement — and offers an alternative (take one together, draw one, or use a photograph everyone has agreed to). “Don’t” on its own teaches the child to do it out of sight.
  • Situation 3 (a senior pupil confides in a chatbot): an acceptable reply holds on to “they were willing to talk”, states the boundary (it does not get tired, it will not remember you, it mostly agrees with you), and states the exceptions (self-harm, bullying, grooming, money or images go to the school, with no promise of confidentiality).

A usable agreement has five features (use these as a check):

  • All six boundaries are present, one sentence each, with no seventh added.
  • All six cells of column two describe something specific; none says “as above”.
  • Column three names a person, not “everyone”.
  • Column four describes a conversation, not a punishment.
  • Column five carries two signatures, and the renegotiation line is still there.

Checklist (the class teacher runs through it once before handing the pages out):

  • □ The six boundaries read say first, no one else’s data, homework is helped not done, stop when it feels wrong, fixed times (not the hour before bed, not the meal table), tell first if something happens — same order, same wording.
  • □ The five columns read boundary, at our house this looks like, who reminds, if we don’t manage it, when we talk again — nothing added or removed.
  • □ The agreement carries two signatures only, the parent’s and the pupil’s, and the “can be renegotiated at any time” line.
  • □ No named tool, platform or app appears anywhere.
  • □ All three situations are marked fictional, with no real school, person or class.
  • □ Nothing reads as a school rule, and nothing says that not signing affects lessons.
  • □ No time or duration advice appears, and no figure is quoted from any body.
  • □ The page states that the six boundaries, the three situations, the five-column format and the parent page are this resource’s suggestion, not an Education Bureau requirement.

The test: the child named a boundary, the parent wrote it down, and both signed. If that happened, the agreement will be remembered. If it did not, the most complete form in the world is still a sheet the school sent home.

Files

Home AI agreement: six boundaries, three situations and a one-page five-column agreement (editable Word document)

Five sections, each usable on its own: the five header facts (stage, subject, learning strand, official documents, time to prepare and use), what to read before starting, the six boundaries as a one-sentence table, three fictional situations, the one-page five-column agreement (copies on its own, signed by both sides, renegotiation line kept at the foot), the four-segment 20-minute briefing and a one-page checklist. A school fills in the date it goes home and the slot for the briefing; the document has no field for a pupil’s name, class or number.

One page for parents: four points and the six boundaries (editable Word document)

Single-sided, sent with the school letter or handed out at a parent meeting. Four points plus the six boundaries in one view, closing with “this agreement is not a school rule; not signing it and not returning it affects nothing at school”. No space for describing an incident, no name field and no reply slip.

Both documents carry a version record line in the footer.

Official documents

Every resource in this library is written to the AI Literacy Learning Framework for Primary and Secondary Schools and falls within the policy scope of the Blueprint for Digital Education Development in Primary and Secondary Schools.

This resource maps to:

  • Blueprint for Digital Education Development in Primary and Secondary Schools (three-fold leaflet, p.2): requires digital and AI education to be planned in the School Development Plan, with the arrangements explained to teachers, pupils and parents; a page a family can fill in and sign is one way of explaining those arrangements to parents.
  • Supplement I: AI Literacy Learning Framework for Primary and Secondary Schools (p.1-4): sets out the three learning strands; this resource addresses reflection on the application of AI, with human-machine communication and collaboration as its setting.
  • The Primary Information and Innovation Technology Curriculum Framework (trial version), the “first steps with AI” part: the primary years carry topics on rules for use and on “situations where it is appropriate to use”; the three situations here follow that arrangement. The framework is a trial version, the wording is shared across primary and secondary, and there is no equivalent official curriculum framework for the secondary years, where the basis is the AI Literacy Learning Framework and the Bureau’s circulars.
  • EDBCM No. 156/2026 (as published): sets out the values and attitudes schools should attend to in using AI, including compliance with the law and safety, critical thinking, and attention to student wellbeing; the boundaries “stop when it feels wrong” and “tell first if something happens” are that set of requirements expressed on a page for families.

Learning strand: reflection on the application of AI

Official documents page: https://www.edb.gov.hk/en/edu-system/primary-secondary/applicable-to-primary-secondary/it-in-edu/debp.html

This page is an independent Beets teaching resource, not an official EDB document. The name, the six boundaries, the three situations, the five-column format and the parent page are this resource’s suggestion, not an Education Bureau requirement and not a school rule; a school may adjust them, and each family decides its own content. This page gives no time or duration advice and quotes no figure of that kind from any body. The “first steps with AI” part of the Primary Information and Innovation Technology Curriculum Framework is a trial version, and there is no equivalent official framework for the secondary years.

Feedback

If you have any comments or questions about this resource, or an idea for the next one, tell us on the feedback page.

Related resources

Reuse

Download and adapt these resources freely for teaching; please keep the attribution.